The New Orleans Pelicans will play basketball on Wednesday night as they kick off their 2022-23 NBA season.
Fans are elated to see them back but they are even more excited because it will mark the return of Zion Williamson.
Williamson hasn’t played a single game in more than a year as a foot injury has sidelined him and rehabilitation has taken longer than expected.
But he is back – and he could be back in a very big way.
A quick refresher on how good Zion Williamson is#NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/vLtVrpratk
— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 (@_Talkin_NBA) October 19, 2022
When you look at Williamson’s career before his injury, the stats are beyond impressive.
For example, he has a 25-game streak when he scored at least 20 points on a 50% field goal percentage.
Williamson was in fact making 29 points a game with 66%.
That is a crazy number, one that is never seen in the modern NBA.
Actually, the last person to do that was Shaquille O’Neal in the 1990s when he scored 30.3 points per game with a 61% field goal percentage.
Zion Is Back
The Pelicans were already doing quite well last year in Williamson’s absence.
But, obviously, the team could be incredible with his return this season.
They have wanted to make the playoffs for years now but they continually get pushed out toward the beginning.
If Williamson and the rest of the team stay healthy during 2022-23, they could easily push into the postseason.
Williamson is saying all the right things and seems very engaged with the team and committed to winning.
Additionally, he looks very healthy and that means his body could be ready to withstand the strain of more than 80 games.
If he starts to put up numbers as he did a few years ago, the rest of the West better be prepared.
NEXT: Zion Williamson Is Finally Ready To Play Again