NBA’s Best Kept Secret: Zion

Goes into how Zion-mania is slowly starting to build up again nationally after really dying down while he was out rehabbing.

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Zion’s been a smashing success. Over the past three weeks, Williamson has emerged as one of the most dynamic forces in the game—not dynamic for rookies, but in the game, period. He’s so quick and physical he’s mushing defenses; they have no answers because he’s such a one-off. If Williamson is overweight, he’s the most nimble overweight star ever. He’s like Charles Barkley Iverson. Williamson’s stats through Wednesday—21 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists—represent a historically great start, in the same breath with Shaq and Jordan. The young Pelicans, 6-4 in their last 10 games through Wednesday, now have an outside shot at the playoffs.

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Says one of the main reasons is everything going on simultaneously with his return between Kobe, the Super Bowl, Coronavirus, and Election news.

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Don’t get me wrong: a preoccupied country isn’t bad for Williamson. Usually what we do with young talents like Williamson is to suffocate them immediately, by raising expectations to the heavens, where a nascent star will either live up to the hope, or become a cautionary collapse. This is especially acute in basketball, where anointing “The Next Big Thing” is a beloved pastime.

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