Pelicans’ Zion Williamson Aggravates Hamstring Injury

A struggling New Orleans team will be without the star forward for even longer than anticipated.

Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson will miss additional weeks of action after re-aggravating his hamstring injury, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said Sunday.

Williamson, who hasn’t played since Jan. 2, had been gearing up for a return to the court and progressed to three-on-three work, according to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez. However, Griffin revealed that the former No. 1 pick aggravated his hamstring during that portion of his recovery.

“I think we’re looking at multiple weeks past the All-Star break that he’ll be back,” Griffin said, per Lopez. “What that looks like in terms of timeline, I really can’t tell you. Much as we have throughout this, we’ll continue to image him and post-All-Star that will happen.”

When asked how Williamson was handling the news of the setback, Griffin answered candidly.

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“It’s fair to say not terribly well because he was really diligent in his rehab and in the process,” Griffin said. “Unfortunately this is an injury that has a really high incidence of recurrence. It’s nothing he did wrong to bring this about. He was very diligent in the process and it just is what it is.”

Prior to suffering the initial hamstring injury during a game against the 76ers, Williamson was at the peak of his powers and earned the second All-Star nod of his career. In 29 games played this season, the 22-year-old has averaged 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 60.8% from the floor.

When Williamson was available, New Orleans was among the Western Conference elite, but since the star forward’s absence began, the team has plummeted down the standings. The Pelicans have lost 10 games in a row and 14 of their past 20, dropping them to seventh place in the Western Conference at 29–28.