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Given Zion Williamson has battled injuries since he was the NBA’s first overall pick in 2019, there’s speculation the New Orleans Pelicans want to move on from him.
The team says that could not be further from the truth.
Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin told SiriusXM NBA Radio Williamson’s name has not come up in any trade discussions.
“We never had a single [trade] conversation that Zion was part of. I think people perceived that we would be willing to move off of Zion because of all the injuries, because there’s always so much noise around Zion,” Griffin said. “Fortunately for us, the noise never matches what we’re actually experiencing.”
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Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans signs his contract extension in New Orleans June 26, 2022 (Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)
Williamson has made more headlines off the floor than on it recently. He found himself as the subject of a Twitter controversy after ex-porn star Moriah Mills threatened to release sex tapes of the two shortly after she seemingly confessed her love for him.
“I think what’s unfortunate is that he’s a name that generates clicks no matter what the link says,” Griffin said. “Zion puts on his socks. People click on that. So, it makes it really easy for people to manufacture rumor around him because they don’t have to have any actual credibility behind what they say to generate clicks.
“As a society, this isn’t [just] true of sports, this is true across all platforms — reality doesn’t matter anymore. Generating clicks matters. So, unfortunately for Zion, he’s just an oddity and somebody that people pay a great deal of attention to and manufacture a lot of stories around.”
New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., Dec 17, 2022. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports)
Williamson recently admitted he has had trouble with his diet, which has also contributed to him not playing.
“It’s hard, man. I’m 20, 22, have all the money in the world – well, it feels like all the money in the world. It’s hard,” Williamson said when he was asked about eating healthy and staying in top physical shape.
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“I’m at that point now, because of certain things, I’m putting back the wisdom around me. I don’t want to say older because they get defensive, but I’m putting people around me with wisdom. Put me on game to certain things. And just go from there.”
New Orleans Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson on the bench during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., March 6, 2023. (Kelley L Cox/USA Today Sports)
The 6-foot-6, 284-pound Pelicans forward has been limited to 114 regular-season appearances out of a possible 308 games in his four years in the league. A foot injury sidelined Williamson for the entire 2021-22 season.
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In 29 games last year, he averaged 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists. In his career, he’s put up 25.8 points, 7.0 boards and 3.6 dishes per contest.
Fox News’ Chantz Martin contributed to this report.
