New Orleans Pelicans star player Zion Williams, who has not played a single game so far this season, has recently been on the cusp of public opinion.
During the All-Star Game, CJ McCollum, who joined the Pelicans before the trade deadline, admitted to playing five games for the team, Zion still had no contact with him. This drew much criticism from Williams. Former NBA marksman JJ Redick briefly worked as teammates with Fat Tiger, and when he connected A-Smith, Redick confessed that Zion was very indifferent to his teammates and felt empathy for what happened to CJ.
Redick said: "As a teammate, you should observe the most basic etiquette. Zion's failure to do so shows that he has no emotional commitment to the team and the city. Matt Barnes's speech was even more blunt, directly pointing out that Zion did not want to stay in New Orleans to play, and the small ball city could not satisfy his appetite.
Under the pressure of public opinion, Zion was forced to compromise. In later reports, CJ McCollum, the president of the players' union, told reporters that Zion had contacted him afterwards. But such compromises have not quelled the outside world's doubts about fat tigers.
In the latest issue of Swagu and Perk, former NFL star Marcus Spears, in a conversation with former Green Army player Kendrick Perkins, expressed his disappointment with Zion's professional ethics and hoped that the latter would be able to show shame and win back respect with actions: "If you (Zion) want to leave New Orleans, of course you can leave, I mean everyone thinks so, not that I want to reveal anything." 」 But, I would say, don't you need to work after changing the environment? ”
Marcus also cited LeBron James, the ultimate pre-draft template for the Fat Tigers and one of the greatest stars in NBA history, as an example: "Stop being like a baby, man, you're a professional player, you control what you can control." Otherwise you won't make that much money in your life. LeBron earned more than $1 billion in his career as he threw himself into basketball. Williams was also thought to reach such heights, and he showed enviable talent in both high school and college. However, if you maintain the status quo, and look back 15 years later, you will find that you made a big mistake. ”
ESPN's vivny Windhorst believes that Zion's career has been off a predetermined trajectory, which is a very dangerous signal. Last summer, the pelican management made a big deal to find good helpers for Gemini. But Zion's repeated injuries kept him from playing for even a minute, and the Pelicans' poor performance of winning just one in 13 games in the early 13 games of the season left them completely overwhelmed by reality.
Because of the indisciplined diet, Zion, whose body developed seriously horizontally, was recently photographed by the media, which further stimulated everyone's concern about the Pelicans. Although the Pelicans made a 5-5 loss before the All-Star Game, it seems to have a tendency to pick up, and the ranking has quietly risen to 12th in the West, retaining hopes of advancing to the playoffs.
But everyone knows that Zion is the Pelicans' greatest hope for this rebuilding cycle, and whether his unexplained and repeated foot injuries can heal determines where the pelicans' upper limit is. If it is determined that Zion cannot return to full state, or that he is in cao ying's heart, he can't wait to escape New Orleans and join the embrace of the big city. This is a big blow to the Pelicans, which is why everyone is criticizing Fat Tiger and wants him to retry his professional ethics.