There is no timetable for Zion Williamson’s return according to David Griffin of the New Orleans Pelicans. The right foot surgery that he had at the beginning of the offseason apparently went well and doctors are happy with the progress so far or at least that is what we are being led to believe.
The problem here is that the front office of the New Orleans Pelicans has not been 100% truthful.
Griff on Zion: “Truth be told, I never said opening night. But that’s OK. I said for the regular season. But I do think it’s going to be something that because of the bone healing aspect of things, it’s hard. Every player is different. Nothing has gone wrong."
— Christian Clark (@cclark_13) October 14, 2021
These are somewhat condescending remarks here from Griffin. It looks as if he is backtracking on what he said on Media Day on September 27th or at least playing some kind of pedantic word games.
"“His timeline should get him back on the court in time for regular season.”"
Technically Griffin is right here, he never specifically said “opening night” but I think it’s being pretty disingenuous to claim that after everyone clearly took it that way.
Many fans and media members had this false hope that Zion would be available to play on October 20th against the Philadelphia 76ers, but it will be pushed back. How long? Weeks? Months? The season? These are questions fans want to know and deserve to know too. As of right now, no one knows because in about two weeks Zion will get his right foot re-evaluated by doctors. Hopefully, then the answers will come to light.
David Griffin says Zion Williamson said surgeons reviewed scans and he is cleared for the next step.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 14, 2021
“No fixed timeline”for return to game action. Next scans will be 2-2.5 weeks.
Zion will not be on the floor for the first week of games.
Once Zion returns (hopefully soon), will he be 100%? Will he be the Zion that averages 27 PPG and 7 RPG? Fans just want clearer updates on his progress. He has been cleared to start running drills in practice but is very limited on contact drills, so while we know Zion Williamson is a competitor who wants to get back on the floor, we still have no idea when that will be or what it will look like in terms of limitations and minutes.
Fans want to see this franchise succeed. There is so much young, raw talent on the New Orleans Pelicans. When it comes to a star player like Zion Williamson, all fans want is honesty about the injury and to be straight up with it.
Let’s hope over the next few weeks that David Griffin, the team and Zion’s camp start being a little more up front with fans, who need less condescension and word play and more real information about the star of their team.