Zion Williamson: Rookie of The Year?

Image courtesy of Essentially Sports

By JEHAN BOER ‘21

As of late, NBA rookie Zion Williamson has been trending around the basketball world. His recent fame could be credited to the fact that he finally made his NBA debut after many months on the sideline, or his recent success in the league, or maybe overhype from the media. Whatever the reason, Zion Williamson has got people talking.

Born on July 6, 2000, Zion is one of the NBA’s youngest players. But don’t let his young age fool you; at 6 foot 6 and 284 pounds, Zion is one of the largest players in the NBA. Zion was drafted this past summer to the New Orleans Pelicans, after a “one and done” (attending freshman year to fulfill the prerequisite then leaving for the NBA) college experience at Duke University. Months prior to Zion’s arrival at the NBA, Zion was already very well known in the world of basketball. During the 2019 NCAA basketball tournament, 20 out of 34 ESPN college basketball contributors predicted that Zion’s Duke team would win the national championship, and these contributors extensively covered Zion’s individual feats throughout the tournament.

Sadly, Zion’s Duke team failed to win the tournament after a loss to Michigan State in the final 8. Zion failed to live up to the hype that ESPN had given him. After the championship was over, the next step in Zion’s career was the NBA draft, where ESPN predicted that he would be the number 1 draft pick. ESPN was right, and Zion got drafted to the Pelicans as the first pick. However, the excitement of seeing Zion play in the NBA was short lived, as he injured himself in preseason, delaying his first NBA game for several months. 

After three months of watching NBA basketball from the sidelines, Zion WIlliamson made his long-awaited debut on January 22, 2019. In the first three months he missed, second pick Ja Morant had taken the “new-boy” spotlight and was considered a contender for rookie of the year, an award given to a player who shows tremendous ability during their first year in the league. There was no hesitation to continue the Zion-hype after the three month hiatus, and soon after his debut, Zion’s face was all over the basketball world:  in advertisements, in highlight reels, in sports media coverage. Zion’s numbers also live up to the hype. After only a month and a half of playing, Zion has averaged 24 points, more than any other rookie in the league. 

With only 2 few months left in the NBA regular season, a huge question is lurking: Does Zion deserve to be named Rookie of the Year? There are many factors that have to be included in answering this question, the largest being whether his time playing in the league can make up for the time he spent on the sidelines. But regardless of any early opinions on if Zion deserves rookie of the year, his numbers so far speak for themselves, and it is obvious that Zion has had an impact on the NBA already.