New Orleans’ Zion Williamson: ‘I want straight-up revenge this season’

Last season, Zion Williamson played in 70 games, averaged 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5 assists a night while shooting 57% from the field. Still, he didn’t make the All-Star team, didn’t come close to making the All-NBA team, and when the play-in came around, he pulled his hamstring during a 40-point performance against the Lakers and was out for the rest of the postseason. Perhaps the most telling moment of last season came in the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament finals, where LeBron James and Anthony Davis upped their game and the Lakers routed the Pelicans.

Williamson told William Guillory of The Athletic“This can’t happen again,” and dedicated himself to the hard work and the new season in which he was named among the game’s elite.

“I’m looking for straight-up revenge,” Williamson said. “Not against anyone in particular. Just for myself.”

According to Zion, it all started when the Lakers drove the Pelicans off the court in Las Vegas.

“(The In-Season Tournament loss) was definitely one of the biggest turning points in the season, and honestly, for me as a man in my career,” Williamson said. “I watch (LeBron James) out here on the court, doing what he does. I tell myself I want to be a player that’s at a high level of greatness — one of the greats. In that big moment, I didn’t show up. It hit me while the game was going on. I just looked up and said, ‘I didn’t show up.’ I have no excuse.”

If your reaction to all of this is, “We’ve seen this movie before,” you’re not wrong — Zion has talked about a change in mindset, his diet, his relationship with his teammates and more multiple seasons ago. This report says the difference this time around is that he’s working more closely with the Pelicans (which certainly wasn’t always the case), and his teammates and the Pelicans say it feels different.

We are past the talking and into the “prove it” phase with Zion. Actions, not words. It’s up to him.

The Pelicans have a lot of talent on the roster — they added Dejonte Murray but still don’t have a center — and could either finish in the top six in the West or out of the playoffs altogether. In a deep conference where the little things can separate teams, Zion’s elite presence would make the Pelicans potential contenders. He has that potential.

We just have to see it in more than flashes. And he has to stay healthy.