We’re looking back at some of the most important New Orleans Pelicans’ games from this season. On tap today, the long-awaited debut of one Zion Williamson.
January 22, 2020 is a day that will live in franchise history forever, as we finally got to see Zion Williamson in real NBA action with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Sure, we’d seen glimpses during summer league and moments like his steal against Kevin Knox will be played on highlight reels for years to come, but until this day we only had the theoretical to dream on. This night we would see fiction become fact.
Zion Williamson was the most hyped draft prospect since 2012, coincidentally the last time that the New Orleans Pelicans had the first overall pick in the draft.
His videos were seen by millions on Youtube from the time he was a sophomore; coming of age on social media has its perks, worldwide name recognition as a 17-year-old is certainly one of them.
But now, Zion was a Pelican and ready to play in his first regular-season game with the team. The date was circled on calendars for weeks as the Pelicans chose to play it safe with Zion’s return from meniscus surgery and let him get as many reps in during practice as possible before taking off the training wheels.
The debut would take place in the best party city on the planet, New Orleans. The only damper was knowing that the rookie would be on a minutes restriction that would see him playing less than half the game in what head coach Alvin Gentry called “short, consecutive minutes”.
When Zion was announced with the starting lineup the arena erupted in a chorus of cheers and fans wouldn’t be disappointed in the way the New Orleans Pelicans played early on. While Zion would only play about four minutes in the first quarter, the team did have a four-point lead when he subbed off.
Zion’s first career basket wouldn’t come early, the team moved the ball well with him on the floor in the opening quarter. True to form the Pelicans shot a ton of threes in this game and actually made a higher percentage from three than they did on average during the season.
Mark Jackson asked Jeff Van Gundy if he could redraft the 2019 draft if he would change who would get taken first. This was after Zion had played just under four minutes in his NBA career. To his credit, Van Gundy said he would have to get back to him in a couple of years, as he hasn’t seen one of the players really play yet.
Jackson said he would take Morant in a re-draft. We have to wonder how he feels now.
What was at stake?
In late January the standings in the Western Conference were crowded around the eighth-seeded Grizzlies. The Spurs were behind Memphis just on winning percentage as they both had 23 losses; just a game and a half behind San Antonio were Portland and Phoenix, while New Orleans was three games behind Memphis.
This would be a crucial game for both teams when it came to a playoff push, winning against a team you’re competing with creates extra separation in the standings.