CJ McCollum Appears to Call Out Zion Williamson After Play-In Ouster

Following the Pelicans’ loss to the Thunder in the play-in tournament, McCollum offered his thoughts about the team’s best players not suiting up.

In the aftermath of the Pelicans’ season-ending 123–118 defeat to the Thunder in Wednesday night’s play-in tournament game, guard CJ McCollum made some postgame comments that seemed to be alluding to the absence of star forward Zion Williamson.

Williamson was inactive for the game, and hasn’t suited up for New Orleans since Jan. 2 while recovering from a hamstring injury. Guard Jose Alvarado and forward Larry Nance Jr. also missed Wednesday’s game against Oklahoma City, prompting McCollum to speak about the importance of having every player do whatever’s necessary to be ready to play on game nights.

“Availability is important, man. We’ve got to be available,” McCollum told reporters during his postgame media session. “We’ve got to do what we need to do off the court in terms of preparation, in terms of getting treatment, in terms of getting the right sleep, the right type of hydration, having the right type of diet.”

McCollum also told reporters that he’s been dealing with a thumb injury for the past few months and opted not to undergo surgery during the season, despite the fact that the injury affected his play. His comments struck a different chord than Williamson’s on Tuesday, when he said in response to a question about his rehab process that he was able to do “pretty much everything” on the court, but that he was not satisfied with the level of his performance enough to return to action and play in games.

“It’s just a matter of the level that I was playing at before my hamstring [injury],” Williamson told reporters Tuesday. “I’m just a competitor. I don’t want to go out there and be in my own head and affect the team when I can just be on the sideline supporting them more. I know myself. If I was to go out there, I would be in my head a lot. I would hesitate on certain moves, and that could affect the game.”