Until Zion feels like Zion, the Pelicans probably won’t feel like the Pelicans.
At least not those promising Pelicans you saw sitting on top of the Western Conference standings in late December that had people all across the NBA thinking this was the year of a deep playoff run.
Instead, they’ll be more like the No. 9 seed they are, an up-and-down team that plays the No. 10 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in a win-or-go-home play-in tournament game Wednesday night in the Smoothie King Center.
The good news is the Pelicans have been here before without their superstar.
What will final result be from Pelicans' week in NBA play-in games?
The bad news is, well … the Pelicans are here yet again, with the face of the franchise sidelined by an injury that derailed a season that looked like it had a chance to be special.
If things had gone according to plan — or at least like they were going in December — the Pelicans could be spending this week watching the play-in tournament, awaiting their first-round opponent.
Instead, they are back in the play-in tournament hoping to make another run like the one they made last season. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, Williamson’s only contributions in the play-in tournament will be words of encouragement and high-fives.
If the Pelicans can navigate through the play-in tournament by beating Oklahoma City on Tuesday night and then go on the road Friday to beat the loser of Tuesday’s late game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, it would buy some more time for a possible Williamson return from the hamstring injury that has kept him out since Jan. 2.
That doesn’t seem likely, either.
In a span of four days, we’ve heard enough conflicting reports about his possible return that we really just don’t know.
Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin said Friday that Williamson has not been cleared to practice and ruled him out for the play-in tournament. He also said that the earliest Williamson could return is during a first-round playoff series, but he also said that it is possible Williamson does not play again this season.
On Monday, NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Williamson isn’t close to returning.
A day later, we heard from Williamson himself. It was the first time he had spoken to the media since February when he was selected to the All-Star Game.
“S*** sucks,” Williamson said. “I don’t know how else to say it. I love this game. I say it over and over. For those people that think I want to sit on the sidelines just to sit there, I don’t know why people think that. It sucks. I just want to be playing basketball. For real.”
How soon that will happen remains to be seen. Physically, he says he’s fine.
“Now it’s just a matter of when I feel like Zion,” he said. ”… I can pretty much do everything. It’s just a matter of the level that I was playing at before my hamstring. I’m just a competitor. I don’t want to go out there and be in my own head and affect the team.”
Playing only 29 games this season after playing in none last season, he admits, hasn't been easy.
"It’s been frustrating,” Williamson said. “I can’t lie to you. It’s been very frustrating. Not being able to play sucks. Things have gotten better. Things have gotten a lot better.”
They just haven't gotten better enough for him to suit up.
There’s no doubt Zion wants to play. The fact that someone as competitive as him isn't willing to risk it tells us one of three things. One, the high-flying Williamson is being extra cautious and needs more time to leap over the mental hurdle of this injury. Two, the lingering injury is further away from being fully healed than anyone is willing to admit publicly. Or three, he's just not in playing condition.
“If I feel like Zion, I’ll be out there,” Williamson said
Until then, the Pelicans will have to try to do what they did last season — advance out of a play-in tournament that they would have easily avoided if only they had their best player playing for most of the season.
