NEW ORLEANS — Monday night Pelicans star Zion Williamson made it known that he just wants to hoop despite the injuries in an appearance on former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas' podcast, "Gil's Arena."
"When I'm sitting on the sidelines, watching my teammates and certain games, they lose, I'm like, S***, I know. I know. If I was out there, I can change the outcome of it. So whether people want to believe it or not, when I'm on the sideline, man that hurt me more than anything. I just want to hoop," Williamson said.
Williamson averaged 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game but played in just 29 games last season. Prior to his injury, the Pelicans were at the top of the standings in the Western Conference before plummeting into the Play-In Tournament.
"At the end of the day, people are going to give their opinions, and what I can say is I do respect brutal honesty. I'd rather somebody be brutally honest with me than try to sugarcoat because at the end of the day, if they are honest with me, I know what I need to do to fix it," Williamson said.
The former No.1 pick has not spoken publicly much since he went down with a hamstring injury in January that forced him to miss the remainder of the season.
“Like Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) taught me, I have to own up to my responsibilities,” Williamson said. “There are a lot of things I could have done better. I didn’t. I’m in the process of fixing those wrongs.”
Williamson joined the live podcast taping for about 10 minutes and spoke on his weight and past injuries.
Arenas asked Williamson, "Is it hard to diet at your age" and Williamson told him he would give him a real answer.
“It’s hard, man. I’m 20, 22. Have all the money in the world. It feels like all the money in the world. It’s hard. I’m at that point now because of certain things, I’m putting back the wisdom around me. I don’t want to say older because they’re defensive but I’m putting people around me with wisdom. Put me on game to certain things. And just go from there,” Williamson said.
Instead of focusing on losing weight, Williamson says he's working on flexibility.
"I'm always able to come back each summer. Feeling good, looking good. But I would say it's more of a locking it all like flexibility band work because I think it's those things that we'll be able to keep me on a court longer versus just losing a bunch of weight. And then coming to play and not being able to maintain that. Bron (LeBron James) got the blueprint."
If Williamson is able to finally stay healthy next season, the Pels should surge back toward the top of the west.
"You take care of what you gotta take care of on the court. Everything else is going to fall into place," Williamson said.
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