Pelicans: Fans want straight talk about Zion Williamson’s injury

Fans of the New Orleans Pelicans are growing weary of the constant secrecy around Zion Williamson’s injury.

Zion had secret surgery on his foot this offseason before emerging on media day to ensure everyone he’d be back to start the season. David Griffin concurred.

David Griffin backpedaled on his words, saying he didn’t mean the “beginning” of the season, just some time this season, which is pretty insulting to fans who aren’t nearly as dumb as Griffin seems to think.

We’ve gotten no information on how Zion even sustained the injury, where he was, who he was training with or whether his camp (his stepdad) had anything to do with the misinformation or the phony timeline they tried to present at media day.

Yesterday, the New Orleans Pelicans sent coach Willie Green out to take the hard questions about Zion Williamson’s injury:

I actually felt bad for coach Green here, as he is not being paid to be the PR mouthpiece for this team, nor to take the heat off David Griffin and Zion Williamson for their misleading comments during media day.

I give coach Green credit for taking these bullets but we still didn’t learn much.

New Orleans Pelicans: Don’t expect to see Zion Williamson any time soon

We didn’t learn much from coach Green’s Q&A and still really have no realistic timeline for when Zion Williamson will return.

Coach Green said he is doing some explosive activity, including running, but still can’t play 5-on-5 or do any type of full-contact drills.

He also added that Zion would be evaluated again in 2-3 weeks with more “scans” to see where he is.

Take note that these are just more SCANS, as I’ve seen some people predict Zion will be back in 2-3 weeks which is not possible given the time frame and his current condition.

Zion Williamson hasn’t played basketball or even run at full speed in months, so I find it hard to believe he’ll be back soon even if the next round of scans come back clean.

I don’t think this would anger fans so much if the New Orleans Pelicans had just been up front from the beginning. “Under promise and over deliver” is something I was always taught in sales, and the Pelicans did the exact opposite.

When you set unrealistic expectations while simultaneously being dishonest with fans, you aren’t going to win them over or gain much trust.

I just wish the Pelicans would say “we don’t know anything but he could miss the entire season” so that we can move on with our lives instead of waiting every two weeks for more nebulous news that we can’t trust.