New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson joined TNT’s Ernie Johnson for a video interview on the NBA’s Twitter feed on Monday night.
Williamson and Johnson covered topics from the NBA’s suspension to his creative writing days.
Here is what I left with after the interview
Takeaway: We can potentially put the Zion “weight issues” on hold
“Honestly, I’m ready now,” Williamson told Johnson. “I’ve been staying in shape. I don’t want to have to look around and say ‘Sorry guys. I’m just not ready’ I want to stay ready for my teammates.”
One of the biggest storylines before Williamson even made his NBA debut was if the rookie was in shape. Williamson officially weighed 284 pounds but some, like Bill Simmons, speculated that he could weigh over 300 pounds.
If Williamson is staying in shape while staying at home then we can potentially stop questioning if he is ready for NBA action. The team has also been sending video workouts to the players.
Williamson also averaged 23.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while playing 29.7 minutes a game. You thought those numbers would put the weight discussion on hold but it was still there.
Takeaway: We should have known Zion is a great writer
“When I was first in that class, I was just kind of writing random stuff to get by,” Williamson told Johnson.” Mr. Pell comes to me and goes ‘I know you’re just kind of freelancing but I actually want you to write something that means something to you.”
In an interview with ESPN’s Mina Kimes on May 8, 2019, Williamson’s high school teacher Bill Pell talked about the then 17-year old’s writing ability.
“I hope he won’t mind me saying this, but he’s a hell of a poet,” Pell told Kimes. “The kid can write.”
We should have known this about Williamson because we should know everything about him. But we also should have known this because Williamson is a nice person and I assume all nice people can write good poetry. I could be wrong about that.
I also wonder what a Zion Williamson poem looks like. I don’t think it rhymes because advanced poets move past the stage of rhyming in their poems and they also use lines in stanzas as a tool.
“I will be in the
NBA one day and there will
be a lot of pressure but I
know I
can be great”
I imagine it went something like that but way better.
Takeaway: Zion could have been in the H.O.R.S.E competition
“I’ve gotten to play a lot of ball, to be honest, because I have a goal that’s in my house,” Williamson said.
The H-O-R-S-E competition wasn’t well received by NBA fans so it might have been for the best that Williamson wasn’t in the contest. But one of the few qualifiers to be in the contest was to have a goal inside your home. Williamson had that.
I wish I knew before this that he had a hoop in his house before the H-O-R-S-E competitors were announced. I could have speculated what this set up looks like and what shots Williamson was going to attempt. These are the things I think about whether we have sports to watch or not.
But I understand why Williamson didn’t take part in the competition. His teammate J.J. Redick was publicly against the idea.
So it was for the best Williamson didn’t compete. I can’t imagine a world where we saw him in a H-O-R-S-E competition before a dunk contest. That’s not a world I want to live in.