Zion Williamson Injury Update: Will The Pelicans Star Return Before Playoffs?
New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson won't return to the court anytime soon. The latest injury update suggests that the superstar could still be sidelined when the playoffs are just around the corner.
Pelicans general manager David Griffin told reporters that Williamson aggravated his hamstring injury and will miss multiple weeks past the All-Star break. The 2023 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled for Feb. 19.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said the hope is that the Pelicans will get Williamson back at some point before the postseason. Given the latest timeline and Williamson's injury history, it wouldn't be shocking for the forward's injury to keep him sidelined through the rest of the regular season.
When the Pelicans revealed that Williamson had a foot injury at the start of training camp two seasons ago, the team indicated that he might be ready for the start of the season. Williamson ended up missing the entire 2021-22 campaign.
The 2023 NBA play-in tournament starts just seven weeks after the All-Star break. Considering how poorly New Orleans has played in Williamson's absence, there's a good chance that the Pelicans won't secure a top-six seed in the Western Conference playoff picture.
The Pelicans have gone 6-14 since Williamson was first sidelined with the hamstring injury. New Orleans is 29-28 and the No. 7 seed in the West. The Pelicans are one game out of the No. 6 seed and one game ahead of the No. 10 seed Oklahoma City Thunder.
Williamson played so well before getting hurt that he was voted as a starter on the All-Star team. In 29 games, Williamson is averaging 26.0 points on 60.8% shooting from the field. Williamson is also averaging 7.0 rebounds and a career-high 3.7 assists per game.
In his fourth NBA season, Williamson has only played 114 career games.
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