CJ McCollum admitted after the The Pelicans were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday night after suffering a thumb injury in recent months that will require offseason surgery. He also said that he hurt his shoulder for a few games and might need surgery as well. Still, he didn’t want to miss any games and let his teammates down, so he was on the pitch in the biggest game of the season, giving it his all.
Zion Williamson should take notes.
Zion was in a pre-game practice on Wednesday and was doing this, and on another game he threw a windmill dunk.
However, he didn’t dress to play in the Pelicans’ playoff game on Wednesday. Was he still injured?
“Physically, I’m fine,” Zion said Tuesday (via The Associated Press), referring to the right hamstring he injured in January. “Now it’s just a matter of when I feel like Zion.
“I can pretty much do anything, but it’s just a matter of what level I was playing at before my hamstrings,” Zion said. “I don’t want to go out there and be in my head and affect the team when I can just be on the sidelines to support them more, because I know myself. If I were to go, I would be in my head. I would hesitate on certain moves and it could affect the game.”
It plays terribly. But the fact that he throws Instagram-worthy dunks before the game and then sits out the actual game sums up his career to this point.
When the stakes are high, when the games matter, we as fans expect professional athletes to outdo themselves, leading to legendary moments in sport. Willis Reed arrives on the pitch for the Knicks in Game 7, the Michael Jordan Flu Game and many more (across all sports).
We’re not Zion, we don’t know how he feels, and no one should be forced to play because of injury. Understandably, the new hamstring injury/setback he had in February led to “a bit of a mental battle” for the star.
“When I made it worse in February, it was tough. So when I have to make certain moves, there’s this hesitation,” Zion said. “I understand the magnitude of these games ahead and I don’t want to hesitate or do anything that could negatively affect my team.”
But this team is no threat without him. They need him to have a chance, and he knows it.
In the end, everyone might have to look a little more like McCollum.
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Zion throwing a windmill in pre-game practice then skipping play match sums up his career originally appeared on NBCSports.com