Coach K: Williamson ‘never should’ve played’ this summer
Zion Williamson’s summer league stint didn’t last long — the NBA’s No. 1 overall pick played just nine minutes before suffering a knee injury.
The next day, the New Orleans Pelicans announced he would miss the rest of summer league play. According to Williamson’s former coach at Duke, the star forward would have been best served by sitting out summer league altogether.
“I thought really he never should’ve played just, because he’s been on this circuit of awards, the ESPYs, everything,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski recently told Forbes.
“I don’t think he’s in the playing shape or the mental shape to play,” Krzyzewski added.
Williamson bruised his left knee during a game against the New York Knicks on July 5. He didn’t accept his ESPY award for Best College Athlete until five days later.
His one college season had garnered him a number of major honors, including Associated Press Player of the Year and the Naismith Award, and the 6foot-7, 285-pound Williamson wowed college basketball fans with skill and athleticism.
When Williamson took the court in Las Vegas, though, he raised eyebrows for what some saw as deficient conditioning. That renewed concerns that surfaced before the NBAdraft, about whether Williamson’s unusual physique might eventually hinder the enormous success predicted for him at the professional level.
“My concern isn’t about his game. My concern is about his body,” ESPN analyst and former Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said of Williamson recently. “I mean, you can’t improve unless you’re in shape, and he is not in shape. … Whatever his weight is, it’s significantly overweight.”
Greenberg said he thought Williamson was “going to be a terrific player,” but even while noting a highlight-reel play Williamson made against the Knicks, Greenberg said: “He couldn’t move. … And right now, he’s in condition to get hurt, not to be a great player.”