Enjoy The Zion Williamson Experience Before It Becomes The Standard

NEW ORLEANS — There’s new life at the Smoothie King Center. Months after the end of a season that left an overwhelming feeling of despair, a buzz is in the air at the home of the Pelicans.

With Anthony Davis’ departure inevitable, the end of last season was like a four-month long divorce proceeding. There was still some love and memory of the good times, but it had been overwhelmed by emotional pain and bitterness. Davis was leaving, and the expectation was that the Pelicans were going to head into a miserable rebuilding cycle, even with whatever they got back in return for him. And then Lottery Night happened and season ticket orders flooded the Pelicans sales office as they were assured the talents of Zion Williamson to essentially replace Davis.

The hype surrounding Williamson was unlike much of anything we’ve seen for a top pick since LeBron James. That’s not to say Williamson is the player or prospect James was, or even that he’s a better prospect than, say, Davis or other top picks since 2003. But his combination of skill with his stupendous athletic ability makes Williamson a star on the level few have ever entered the league as, and the question has always been whether he can live up to the hype.

The answer to that depends on what you expect. If you think he turns the Pelicans around and makes them a championship contender, then who knows. Seems unlikely in the immediate future, but it’s possible, if they do the right things in building a team around him. So if you’re asking him to be one of the top 5-10 players in the league, I guess there’s a chance to be disappointed, as there are certainly aspects of his game that still need improvement and refinement.

If we’re talking about whether he can live up to the hype in terms of delivering an incredibly fun and entertaining basketball watching experience, however, then the answer is already ‘yes.’ There are going to be ups and downs and there will be games where he struggles, because that’s life as a young player in the NBA, but the way he plays and the things he can do on a basketball court are unlike almost anyone we’ve ever seen in the league.

On Friday night against the Jazz in the Pelicans’ lone preseason game at home, Williamson didn’t get a chance to throw down any crazy dunks in transition, as his one opportunity in the first quarter on the break got stripped away as he went up, to the dismay of the crowd, but as a basketball fan watching him play is fascinating. Up close his size is truly jarring, and the way he plays is probably closer to Giannis Antetokounmpo than anyone else, but if Giannis stopped growing taller at 6’6 and instead grew wider at the same rate.

Williamson is going to the rim. You, me, the defense, and the entire arena knows it, but it doesn’t matter. That skill, the ability to get to the basket at will, has translated astoundingly well at the NBA level. Where Giannis beats you with a terrifying combination of length, strength, and explosiveness, Williamson does so with the latter two taken to superhuman levels. He isn’t tall. He doesn’t have long strides, but he presents a similar conundrum for the defense.

If you step out to him, his first step is quick enough to get his shoulder by you and at that point he can shield the defender with his massive frame and wriggle his way to the rim to get off an uncontested layup despite his shorter stature. If you hang back, he becomes a freight train coming down the tracks and, on the off chance he misses, he has a preposterous second jump to get the offensive board and, possibly, a putback dunk.

On Friday against the Jazz, Zion finished with 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, hitting 7-of-9 free throws on the evening. None of this is a departure from what he did at Duke, but that it seems he’s able to do it with the same apparent ease at the NBA level is certainly notable. Williamson’s biggest highlight on Friday was probably hitting a three early in the first quarter — the only one he’d attempt that night — but it really is incredible watching him work in person, doing things like this against the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

It’s cool, just muscling through Gobert and finishing over perfect verticality. You know, normal basketball things. It’s not a thunderous dunk — don’t worry, there are going to be plenty of those — but even on a night without the ultimate highlight, Williamson offers you plenty to marvel at. His movement and explosiveness at that size is unique, and watching defenders try whatever they can to keep him away from the rim is quite fun — it is, at this point, that I must note that Royce O’Neale did a spectacular job early getting his hands on the ball as Zion brought it up in his gather, which seems to be the only real way to stop the man.

Eventually, it’s going to wear off. Soon what Zion does will be the thing we’re accustomed to, the same way we treat LeBron and Giannis now aside from their absolute “holy sh*t” moments. That’s not to say he’s as good as an overall basketball player as a top 5 NBA player, but he does belong in that tier as far as the immediate entertainment value he brings.

This year is going to be spectacular to watch, and right now it’s hard to find a more appealing in-person basketball experience. Even in preseason.