All of New Orleans hopes are placed on Zion Williamson this upcoming season, as they not only expect him to reach his basketball potential, but also stay as healthy as possible throughout the campaign. In the past, the young star has shown glimpses of his capacity and led the team to some of the best runs in Pelicans‘ history.
Ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas also has faith in the 23-year-old, and even believes he could win the MVP award this 2023/24 competition. The former MVP contender himself addressed Williamson’s potential on his own podcast this week.
“He’s going to be in the MVP race if they’re winning,” Arenas expressed, who believes that Zion can’t do it all by himself and needs a strong Pelicans squad beside him.
Zion Williamson’s pregame dunks are back and looking as EXPLOSIVE as ever 💥
(via @ProPelsTalk) pic.twitter.com/Yv7LefFRlK
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 8, 2023
Before Williamson fell to a season-ending injury back on January 2, New Orleans was on course for a winning campaign, conquering 18 out of their first 26 contests. Despite losing their biggest star, the team still made it to the postseason but lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder through the Play-In game.
Arenas believes that the 23-year-old has no choice but to view his NBA profession as a “day job”, with discipline and a serious schedule.
“It’s like when you have a kid and you putting bubbles, bubble things on every sharp corner so you know that’s what you have to do here,” Gilbert said. “The game, the first bus and all, nah! You ain’t got that luxury no more.
“You get there (by) 2’o’clock (or) 3’o’clock on a 7 p.m. game to make sure your body’s prepared, make sure you’re eating right. You got to do all of that for this season just to make sure you’re lasting the whole season. You’re gonna have to treat this like a real 9 to 5.”
Zion recently played his first game with the Pelicans jersey since his right hamstring injury at the start of the year
The rising star finally returned to the basketball courts with New Orleans this year, after his team’s 122-105 loss against the Orlando Magic for their preseason opener this week. After 16 minutes of play, Zion had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
“He looked good. He’s unstoppable. So he’s going to do what he wants out there on the court. It’s just a matter of us getting our spacing right, playing with the right pace, tempo, getting stops and getting out and running,” CJ McCollum said. “But he’s going to figure it out. He’s going to be successful. We just got to make sure we continue to push the pace.”
“Obviously, we want our best players to be able to play every night and this is a step in that direction. And it’s an opportunity for the fans to see the work that he’s put in — the work that we’ve put in collectively to try to be better this season,” his teammate kept at it.
This was Williamson’s first appearance in a match ever since he injured his right hamstring in Philadelphia on January 2.
“Been hearing good things about the work Zion’s putting in this summer. Was told he’s been really focused on making sure his body is prepared for a long season. Think he’s gonna come in with a chip on his shoulder,” shared NBA insider Will Guillory.
