The New Orleans Pelicans are hoping to find themselves in the Western Conference play-in tournament by the end of the season, which is why they traded for CJ McCollum at the trade deadline. Pairing McCollum with Brandon Ingram gives them a dynamic perimeter combo, and the hope is that, eventually, they get to form a formidable offensive threat when Zion Williamson returns.
The problem is, no one knows when Williamson will return, as offseason foot surgery that was expected to keep him out at most a week or two into the season has kept him off the court entirely through the All-Star break, with the third-year star not being with the team currently as he continues his rehab work. Over All-Star Weekend, McCollum was asked about what he’d been able to talk to Zion about since he arrived in New Orleans, and he said that he hadn’t even gotten the chance to speak with Williamson yet but hoped to do so soon.
On Tuesday morning, Williamson’s former teammate JJ Redick joined Stephen A. Smith on First Take and proceeded to torch Williamson for not having the “decency” as a teammate to reach out to McCollum after the trade happened, describing Zion as a “detached teammate” even when he was around the team.
“I addressed this with Zion in front of the team,” Redick says. “This is going back to his rookie year. There is a responsibility that you have as an athlete when you play a team sport to be fully invested. You’re fully invested in your body. You’re fully invested in your work. And you’re fully invested in your teammates. That is your responsibility, and we have not seen that from Zion.”
Redick called it a “pattern of behavior” and agreed with Stephen A. that the Pelicans are going to have to, at some point in the near future, decide whether his considerable skills when he’s able to play are worth the headaches.
