Zion Williamson

The NBA undoubtedly considered countless variables in navigating the safest, most realistic path to resuming its season. There were a myriad of protocols to consider and consciences to explore amid a pandemic and a burgeoning fight for racial equality.

One conversation, though, was likely relatively brief.

How many of the 30 teams should be invited inside the bubble?

Answer: Whatever number includes Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans.

The NBA and its television partners sought to broadcast Williamson early and often throughout his rookie campaign. A preseason right knee injury derailed those plans—along with a rash of injuries to other key players—and dashed the early hopes of the Pelicans' season. New Orleans limped to a 7-23 start.

But by the time we last left the NBA, Williamson had returned to play 19 games—one for each of his then-19 years—crafting nightly highlight-worthy plays and dazzling imaginations. As the season was about to hit its stretch run, Williamson had nudged New Orleans toward fringe playoff contention by averaging 23.6 points and 6.8 rebounds while developing a quick synergy with the likes of Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday.

"The addition of him made us more aggressive, more dynamic," his teammate, Josh Hart, said. "I think if we had him at the beginning of the year, the story wouldn't be [us] fighting for the eighth seed; it would've been we're a four or five seed in the West, honestly. … Unfortunately, we weren't able to have him in the beginning of the year, but he's helped turn this organization and this season around." 

The NBA season is set to resume at the end of this month in Florida with—surprise, surprise—New Orleans as one of the 22 participating organizations. Whether Williamson will be there, though, has come into question after he left the bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort last week to attend to an urgent family medical situation. The exit puts his availability for the restart in limbo. The organization said Williamson will rejoin the team at a future, unspecified date, when he will have to quarantine again for a period determined by the length of his absence and subsequent COVID-19 testing results. As sobering as the news was, getting Williamson back, no matter when, offers the promise to continue the ascent the Pelicans appeared to be on when the season was stopped.

"More so than our depth, our starters and Zion and those guys, they were beginning to build a chemistry and their roles were so well-defined, by themselves really, that we were playing really good basketball," coach Alvin Gentry said of the team's momentum before the season's suspension. "We had guys coming in off the bench, and they knew they may play five minutes, they may play three minutes, they may play 10 minutes. Our guys had come to the understanding that winning is the No. 1 [goal], and all the other things would have to be put on the back burner. I thought that we were headed in that direction and playing good basketball."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOoo-uD6SvI

The Pelicans, who went 10-9 in Williamson's 19 games, will need to hit the ground running if they hope to climb into the playoffs (or at least into the Western Conference's play-in tournament) in the eight regular-season games they'll start with in the bubble. And that won't be easy with Williamson's availability uncertain.

"As much as it hurts to say, we've done it before," Holiday told reporters on Thursday. "But with him gone and taking care of his family, we’re holding down the fort for him. He's our brother and he needs to take care of his family, take care of his business, but this is nothing new. … It’s just another obstacle that we have to get through as a team."

New Orleans enters the NBA restart 3.5 games behind the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies and faces a difficult matchup with Utah on July 30 to open its schedule. "I think this team can be really special when we're all healthy," Williamson said. "It's just a matter of us coming together, fighting those mental battles of being in the bubble. Honestly ... if we can come together and fight the battles together, I think we can be something really special."

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30 teams, 30 days: The biggest story from each NBA team ahead of the league's return.

Atl | Bos | Bkn | Cha | Chi | Cle
Dal | Den | Det | GS | Hou | Ind
LAC | LAL | Mem | Mia | Mil | Min
NO | NY | OKC | Orl | Phi | Pho
Por | Sac | SA | Tor | Uta | Was

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Early in the pandemic, Williamson demonstrated the thoughtfulness of someone beyond his years by fronting the salaries of all Smoothie King Center employees for 30 days. As for himself, he said he has managed daily court work with his stepfather, Lee Anderson, throughout the hiatus. "It just felt like I was five years old again," Williamson said. "Just went back to square one, tried to get my body where it needs to be, get my fundamentals back to square one and start from there. So yeah, it was just like starting over at five again. It was a great process to learn it all over."

A recent photo tweeted by the franchise depicting a toned Williamson suggests he took his workouts seriously.

Built for this 💪 pic.twitter.com/xdB0OMex35

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 2, 2020

Assuming he returns, Williamson's basketball health will be at the forefront of the organization's preparation as the season resumes.

"We're not going to go down and play guys 40 minutes—that doesn't make sense, I don't think," Gentry said. "We'll have to gauge. Obviously, we have a tremendous medical staff. We've already communicated with them, and we'll talk to the players. We'll try to do what's right in terms of being competitive, giving us an opportunity to win, but obviously not risking anything in terms of long-term future with players that are going to be an integral part of our franchise."

In late June, David Griffin, New Orleans' executive vice president of basketball operations, disclosed that three Pelicans tested positive for the coronavirus, underscoring the difficulty every team faces in getting through the restarted season with a fully healthy roster. Still, Griffin said he is more concerned over the risk of lasting injuries to his roster as they look to quickly ramp up.

"I trust our medical staff to lead us in a direction to go in terms of keeping my body healthy," Williamson said. "Just trying to ramp up, that's the mental battle. ... We need to stick together, keep our [spirits] high, and I think we'll be fine."

It's been a whirlwind year for Williamson, from being the top overall pick, to undergoing surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee and working through a season paused for more than four months. "The last 12 months have been a different experience," he said. "With the injury, with all the stuff going on, not playing basketball as much as I'm used to. It's been a crazy experience. … My mom tells me 'life is life.' You may go through a lot of good times, you may go through a lot of bad times, you just have to try to prepare yourself as best as you can, and for me, that's just sticking with my family."

Williamson recently celebrated his 20th birthday. "But it's weird [to not be a teenager anymore], but in a weird way I haven't felt like a teenager in a long time, so I feel like it's not going to be anything different," he said.

He certainly hasn't played like one in his so-far abbreviated NBA career. Now, he'll try to do so again in another truncated set of games.

"He looks good," Hart said of Williamson's work in practice before he left. "His shot looks better than it has been in a while, so he's been putting the work in, and that's great to see. He's one of the players that's got one of the brightest spotlights in the league and in the world right now. He handles everything great, [with] humility, and I'm very surprised and proud of how he handles all of it."

Like the rest of the NBA, Williamson is also considering how to use his voice to amplify the work done throughout the protests in combating systemic racism and police brutality.

"I'm just going to continue to educate myself on that situation, talk with my parents, talk with wise people, any info I can get from people," Williamson said. "I'm just going to continue to learn about it and consult my parents on the best way to use my platform."

If he handles that decision as well as he has everything else thrown his way this season, it will be the latest in a long list of reasons the NBA wants Zion on your living room TVs as much as possible.

    

Jonathan Abrams is a senior writer for B/R Mag. A former staff writer at Grantland and sports reporter at the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Abrams is also the bestselling author of All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire—available right here, right now. Follow him on Twitter, @jpdabrams. 

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Decisions for 2019-20 NBA performance awards will be based on play up to and including March 11, when the league suspended the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The season is slated to restart with eight regular-season seeding games per team at the Walt Disney World resort near Orlando, Florida, on July 30.

Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic reported the news and noted that the awards include MVP, Rookie of Year, Sixth Man, Defensive Player and Coach of Year.

Final season stats will include the regular-season games that will take place in Florida, per Charania.

"The decision to exclude seeding games from awards voting ensures a fair process in which players and coaches from all 30 teams will have the same opportunity to be honored," the NBA said in a note to teams, per Charania.

The top eight teams in the Eastern and Western Conference, as well as the six teams within reach of a playoff spot in either conference, have been invited to Florida. The eight teams encompassing the lowest portions of the standings have seen their seasons come to a close.

The voting process and winners will be announced by the league soon, according to Charania.

An ESPN Forecast panel of experts was conducted on May 30 to determine picks for the award winners. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo earned the panel's NBA MVP award with 76 percent of the first-place votes. Los Angeles Lakers guard/forward LeBron James garnered the remainder of the first-place choices.

Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant was a near-unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. He was excellent in his own right, but a Morant vs. Zion Williamson ROTY battle could have been epic. Unfortunately, Williamson suffered a torn meniscus during the preseason and didn't suit up until January.

Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse (59 percent of first-place votes) was the choice for Coach of the Year. The most hotly contested race was in the Sixth Man category, with no player earning more than 35 percent of first-place votes. That player was Los Angeles Clippers big man Montrezl Harrell, but he faces stiff competition that even includes teammate Lou Williams.

Antetokounmpo took home the Defensive Player of the Year choice. If he wins DPOY and MVP, then he will be just the third player in league history to earn that dual accomplishment in one season, with Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan and ex-Houston Rockets superstar Hakeem Olajuwon doing so once each.

Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, who went from bench player to All-Star in one year, got 53 percent of first-place votes for the Most Improved Player honor.

Morant appears to be the biggest lock among those awards, with Antetokounmpo not too far behind. James was gaining some steam as an MVP candidate in the later stages of the year, however, with his Lakers cruising to a certain No. 1 seed in the Western Conference following a nine-game win streak and then an 11-1 stretch soon afterward.

The rest of the big awards at least appear to be contested in some fashion, but right now, the league is focused on pulling off the restart, which begins July 30 with the Pelicans playing the Utah Jazz.

New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson reportedly was suffering from leg cramps during a recent practice.

Per The Athletic's Shams Charania and Joe Vardon, Williamson was being attended to by members of the Pelicans medical staff but is said to be "fine" and the cramping is "not an issue."

The Pelicans announced on Thursday morning that Williamson had left the NBA campus in Florida to tend to "an urgent family medical matter" and that he will return "at a later date."

Charania and Vardon noted that Williamson's cramping issue wasn't the reason that he left. 

Per ESPN's Tim Bontemps, who obtained a copy of the NBA's health-and-safety protocol manual issued to all players and staffers, anyone who leaves the campus with prior approval from the league will be subject to a four-day quarantine upon returning pending one of two things:

"He is gone fewer than seven days, and during each day off campus, he is tested for COVID-19, and the result(s) are negative.

"He leaves for an extended absence and undergoes a daily COVID-19 test that comes back negative for at least the seven days before he arrives back on campus."

The Pelicans didn't specify when Williamson might return as they continue to prepare for the season to restart. 

Williamson's rookie season got off to a delayed start because of a torn meniscus that required surgery in October. The 20-year-old made his debut on Jan. 22, scoring 22 points in 18 minutes against the San Antonio Spurs. He averaged 23.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 19 games before the season was suspended on March 11. 

The Pelicans are scheduled to play the Utah Jazz on July 30 at 6:30 p.m. ET in the first game of the resumed season. 

New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson has left the NBA campus in Orlando, Florida, to tend to a personal matter.

The Pelicans announced Williamson had to attend to "an urgent family medical matter" and will rejoin the team at a later date:

Zion Williamson update: pic.twitter.com/eShAPl1gB2

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 16, 2020

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry later told reporters he does not know when Williamson will rejoin the team. 

"We’re not concerned with the basketball side, we’re concerned with his family," he said. 

Under the NBA's health and safety protocols established for the Orlando campus, players are permitted to leave because of an illness or family emergency without penalty if they receive preapproval from the NBA.

Among the variables that the league is expected to factor in to its decision when determining the length of Williamson's quarantine: Where specifically Zion went, his mode of travel and his frequency of COVID-19 testing while away from the team

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 16, 2020

Richaun Holmes of the Sacramento Kings and Bruno Caboclo of the Houston Rockets were put into quarantine earlier this week because they accidentally violated the league's protocols.

Per ESPN's Tim Bontemps, anyone who leaves the campus with approval from the NBA will quarantine for four days upon returning under either of the following conditions: They are gone fewer than seven days and test negative for COVID-19 each day they are gone, or they have an extended absence, undergo daily testing and test negative for at least the seven days before they return.

Pelicans executive vice president David Griffin didn't specify when Williamson would return to the team.

New Orleans (28-36) is 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. The Pelicans' first game in the season restart will be July 30 at 6:30 p.m. ET against the Utah Jazz.

With the NBA's top 22 teams quarantining in Florida and preparing for the upcoming end-of-month restart, fans should soon be able to focus on real action and not just rumors about the pending offseason. For now, though, the rumor mill will have to suffice for entertainment.

One of the newest rumors involves one of the teams currently in Florida: the New Orleans Pelicans. With a 28-36 record, the Pelicans are probably a long shot to make the actual postseason this year, but they appear to be a franchise on the rise.

Rookie sensation Zion Williamson is the centerpiece in New Orleans, but another young player could be the highlight of free agency in October. Brandon Ingram will be a restricted free agent and could be a hot commodity, according to ESPN's Andrew Lopez.

"With Anthony Davis likely staying put in Los Angeles, Ingram has a strong case as the top free agent in the 2020 class, hitting the market as an All-Star under the age of 25," Lopez wrote.

Ingram, who has averaged 24.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in roughly 34 minutes per game, is an intriguing target. However, if a team does make a qualifying offer to the first-time All-Star, the Pelicans will have a chance to match it.

According to Lopez, they'll have every intention of doing so.

"Sources inside the Pelicans front office maintain that they view Ingram as a critical building block going forward," he wrote.

Don't expect the Pelicans to let Ingram out of New Orleans unless another team is willing to massively overpay for his services.

             

Carmelo Anthony Back in New York?

While the Pelicans won enough games to earn a spot in the restart bubble, the 21-45 New York Knicks did not. They're more concerned with wrapping a head-coaching search led by new team president Leon Rose.

According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, Tom Thibodeau is the heavy favorite to land the job.

"Thibodeau has long been considered the favorite as a former CAA client, and folks around the league have expressed skepticism that this is really an open search, rather than just an intel gathering exercise," Bondy wrote.

After selecting a new coach, the next order of business will be constructing a competitive roster for the 2020-21 season. One familiar face could be a part of that roster: Carmelo Anthony.

"The sense is Anthony wants to finish his career in New York, and he fell right on the Knicks' radar the moment Rose accepted the presidency," Marc Berman of the New York Post wrote. "There is no bigger fan of Anthony on the planet than Rose."

While Anthony is no longer the dominant offensive force he once was, he can still be a valuable role-player. He would fit alongside second-year man RJ Barrett and the Knicks' rookie first-round pick—likely a lottery selection—as a veteran scorer and mentor.

A lineup of Barrett, Anthony and a rookie like LaMelo Ball would bring some much-needed excitement to New York.

         

How Much Pull Does Tellem Have in Detroit?

Like the Knicks, the 20-46 Detroit Pistons failed to make the cut for the restart. Instead of focusing on meaningful games, they're focused on revamping the front office under new general manager Troy Weaver.

"This isn't a rebuild—it's a restoring. There's been greatness here," Weaver said, per Rod Beard of the Detroit News. "The Motor City deserves a consistent winner back on the floor."

While Weaver will be largely responsible for overseeing the new front office, free agency and the draft this offseason, he won't be the only significant decision-maker, according to The Athletic's Sam Vecenie.

"Sources around the league believe vice chairman of palace sports & entertainment Arn Tellem still has a significant voice in front-office matters. That obviously means that the Pistons could look to go a number of different directions with this pick," Vecenie wrote in a recent piece discussing the upcoming draft.

Tellem was a sports agent for more than 30 years before taking his current gig, and he's had plenty of experience working with Weaver. The latter played a large role in drafting former Tellem clients Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

There's a good chance that Tellem and Weaver will see eye-to-eye on many potential decisions. However, it could be interesting to see who has the final say in the instances when they do not.

It's been a long time since sports felt like business as usual in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Gatorade athletes are ready to play again. In fact, they are Ready to Play. Anything.

Gatorade launched its "Ready to Play. Anything" campaign Wednesday, which features Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper, New Orleans Pelicans sensation Zion Williamson, Washington Mystics star Elena Delle Donne, hurdler Sydney McLaughlin and Atlanta Falcons running back Todd Gurley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4hqz1y4bXE

The commercial starts with Harper saying, "Time to play some baseball," with the others willing to try that and just about any other sport.

Gatorade said the campaign "offers a fun and inspiring message to athletes everywhere, encouraging them to be ready to play when their sport returns, and celebrates a shared love of all things sports—whatever it might be."

Expect the athletes involved to take to social media in the coming days to let fans know they are #ReadyToPlay.

"Baseball players, from pros to Little Leaguers, have missed the game," Harper said. "This is a new reality we're living in, but we're all ready to get back out and play again. Gatorade knows this better than anyone, and is having some fun celebrating sports by showing that athletes are willing to play just about anything at this point to get back at it."

Gatorade is ready for a return to sports.

Slavko Duric, a Canadian marketer who Zion Williamson's family alleges forged a representation agreement with the Pelicans star while he was in high school, said he was scammed out of $100,000 by someone he believed was close to the family. 

"I tried to do something I would characterize as outside the lines," Duric told Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated. "I allegedly was involved early. I was at the front of the line through a person who said he knew the family. Somebody who said he was [Williamson's stepdad] Lee Anderson spoke with me. Someone who said they were [family friend] Chubby Wells spoke with me a dozen times."

Duric would not name the person who said they were connected to Williamson's family. He said once he wired over the $100,000, all contact with the people purporting to be connected to Williamson stopped.

"I've been the victim of a con job by somebody acting like they were in the inner circle [with Williamson]," Duric said. "I have never spoken to Zion Williamson, and anybody who purported themselves as being a member of Zion's inner circle was an impostor.

"Honestly, I am in a fog. I do know that I'm out 100 grand."

Williamson and Gina Ford are currently embroiled in a lawsuit that includes allegations Williamson's stepfather, Lee Anderson, took $400,000 in exchange for an agreement on future representation. Ford sued Williamson for breach of contract in 2019 after he terminated their representation agreement—saying it was illegal under North Carolina law—to sign with Creative Arts Agency.

As noted by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Ford's agency is not certified by the NBPA, nor is it registered in North Carolina or Florida as an athlete representation agency.

Recent court filings include allegations Duric helped conspire to pay Williamson's family $400,000, which would have ended his student-athlete eligibility. If the documents are verified, it would strengthen Ford's case because Williamson would not have been a student-athlete at the time of their agreement.

However, Williamson's attorney, Jeffrey Klein, said the documents are forgeries. They include an alleged copy of Williamson's driver's license that reportedly features several errors. 

New Orleans Pelicans rookie superstar forward Zion Williamson stayed active and prepared during the league's four-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, telling reporters he went back to basics with his training. 

"It just felt like I was five years old again," Williamson told reporters. "Just went back to square one, tried to get my body where it needs to be, get my fundamentals back to square one and start from there. So yeah, it was just like starting over at five again. It was a great process to learn it all over."

Williamson entered the league with tremendous hype and met it after averaging 23.6 points and 6.8 rebounds during his first 19 games. That was despite sitting out the first three months with a torn meniscus.

The No. 1 overall draft pick out of Duke looks ready to dominate the league upon his return, and head coach Alvin Gentry praised Williamson's stepfather, Lee Anderson, for helping him stay ready for a restart.

"His stepfather did a fantastic job of working him out every day, of making him be in good conditioning when we got him back. He's made a lot of strides in his shooting, I think. Although we weren't together, he did a lot to improve his game."

On the latter note, Williamson agreed that we may be seeing something a bit different in his repertoire.

"Yeah, I think there are going to be parts of my game that you didn't see before that you'll see when we start playing."

Williamson and the Pels need to hit the floor running as they look to make the playoffs. They sit 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth and final playoff spot.

New Orleans is in a virtual tie with the Portland Trail Blazers (whose .439 winning percentage is one-hundredth of a point higher than the Pelicans' .438) and locked with the Sacramento Kings for ninth. The San Antonio Spurs sit a half-game behind that group.

Eight games remain for the 22 teams invited to finish out the season, but the good news for the Pels is they are guaranteed a chance to make the playoffs if they finish ninth and within four games of the eighth-place team, most likely the Grizz. New Orleans would then have to beat the eighth-place team in a pair of play-in games to advance to the quarterfinals.

It's a tough road to the playoffs for the Pels considering the standings gap and the competition around them, but a healthy and evolving Williamson is all they could ask for in an attempt to reach their goal.

New Orleans kicks off the regular-season restart on Thursday, July 30 versus the Utah Jazz at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Zion Williamson and his stepfather are alleged to have accepted $400,000 from an agency for exclusive marketing rights while Williamson was attending Duke University in October 2018. 

According to Daniel Wallach of The Athletic, Prime Sports Marketing and Gina Ford are the defendants in a lawsuit filed by Williamson in North Carolina and introduced "newly discovered evidence" related to the alleged October 2018 payment:

BREAKING: Zion Williamson’s former marketing agent files “newly-discovered evidence” in North Carolina federal lawsuit. New affidavit claims Wiliamson and his stepfather were paid $400K in Oct. 2018 in exchange for granting exclusive marketing rights to another agent. pic.twitter.com/nDEznYsKr4

— . (@PrograsiveXPlus) July 9, 2020

Wallach added that witness Donald Kreiss contacted Ford and provided a copy of a marketing agreement between Williamson and Maximum Management Group, which is based in Canada.

Wallach also passed along a statement from Williamson's lawyer, Jeffrey S. Klein: 

“The alleged ‘agreements’ and driver’s license attached to these papers are fraudulent - and neither Mr. Williamson nor his family know these individuals not had any dealings with them.”

- Jeffrey S. Klein (of @WeilGotshal), counsel for Zion Williamson

More below. https://t.co/2oDfLOk1S2

— . (@PrograsiveXPlus) July 9, 2020

According to Wallach (h/t David Cobb and Kyle Boone of CBS Sports), Zion's lawsuit against Prime Sports Marketing aims to nullify his agreement with the firm under a North Carolina law that protects student-athletes from non-certified agents.

Williamson signed with Prime Sports Marketing after being selected No. 1 overall by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2019 NBA draft, but he switched to Creative Artists Agency a few weeks later.

Prime Sports Marketing filed a lawsuit against Williamson in Florida seeking compensation for endorsement opportunities it had lined up for Zion before he made the jump to CAA.

Ford and Prime Sports Marketing are arguing Williamson accepted impermissible benefits while at Duke. If that is proven, Zion may be ruled ineligible retroactively, which would make it difficult for him to win his case under the North Carolina law protecting student-athletes.

Williamson spent one season at Duke and established himself as one of the most explosive and exciting players in college basketball history.

In 33 games with the Blue Devils during the 2018-19 season, Zion averaged 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. He was named the consensus National College Player of the Year.

The 20-year-old phenom missed the start of his rookie season with the Pels due to a knee injury before making his debut in January. In 19 games prior to the suspension of the 2019-20 season due to the coronavirus pandemic, Zion averaged 23.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

Williamson figures to be a key figure for the Pelicans when the season resumes in Orlando, Florida, later this month.

The Pelicans are 10th in the Western Conference and trail the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies by 3.5 games, but they will have a chance to play their way into the postseason.