METARIE, La. – Zion Williamson loved playing deejay in his mother’s car during his childhood every time she left him alone with her CDs while she ran errands. Sharonda Sampson owned a lot of R&B and hip-hop CDs for the future New Orleans Pelicans star to choose from. And for the most part, Williamson would choose rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
“When I was younger, my mom would go in the store, and I would be sitting in the car. She had [Jay-Z’s] The Blueprint and Reasonable Doubt. Mary J. [Blige’s] What’s the 411 and My Life. And Big’s CD was in there, too,” Williamson told Andscape following the Pelicans’ practice Tuesday at the team’s practice facility. “So, I would listen to them. Even though I didn’t fully know what [Notorious B.I.G.] was talking about, as I get older, I learn more and more.”
Meanwhile, Williamson’s NBA career hasn’t played out as he’s hoped, because he has spent most of it on the sideline due to injuries.
Williamson has been sidelined since Jan. 2 while recovering from a right hamstring strain. The 6-foot-6, 284-pounder is out for the ninth-seeded Pelicans in a Western Conference play-in game Wednesday night against the visiting 10th-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. The two-time NBA All-Star averaged 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 29 of a possible 82 games this regular season. The No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft has been limited to 114 regular-season games in four seasons due to injury, including missing the entire 2021-22 campaign. Williamson missed the Pelicans’ playoff run last season and it appears possible that he will miss the playoffs this year if the team qualifies.
Williamson said that it will take a collective decision by himself and the Pelicans’ brass to return to action, but mentally and physically he appears to have some obstacles to returning.
“It’s a little bit of a mental battle, because you know…
Read the full article here
