Zion Williamson Gets Honest on Playing Back-to-Backs

New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson suffered another injury setback this year after injuring his hamstring again. Williamson returned to action on January 7th, but the Pelicans have been extra cautious in his return to the court. New Orleans has held the two-time all-star on a minutes restriction and held him out of back-to-back games.
The Pelicans 12-36 record most likely prevents them from having any playoff aspirations, but the minutes restrictions have prevented the team from winning close games. New Orleans hosted the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night, and the former No. 1 overall pick shined, scoring 29 points in 28 minutes. The Pelicans lost the game by a point, extending their losing streak to four games.
ZION WILLIAMSON
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 18, 2025
JUST PUT YOU ON A POSTER pic.twitter.com/vv1AOhp0mJ
Since Williamson's return, the star forward has not played more than 30 minutes in any of the games. After practice on Thursday, reporters asked him about his feelings toward playing more and participating in back-to-back games moving forward.
"Let me make this clear to everybody out there. If I could play in the back-to-backs, I would. Physically? Yes, I can", Williamson told the media. "But I work for the Pelicans. They have decided that, based off the numbers, it's not smart to do that right now. If that's what they feel, I'm rocking with them on that."
Zion Williamson on playing back-to-backs:
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) January 30, 2025
"Let me make this clear to everybody out there. If I could play in the back-to-backs, I would. Physically? Yes, I can. But I work for the Pelicans. They have decided that, based off the numbers, it's not smart to do that right now. If…
Zion and the team have a history of erring on the side of caution when bringing him back from injury. The former Duke standout has suffered hamstring injuries in the past three seasons. After suffering a setback in early January of 2023, the Pelicans made the playoffs that season, but Williamson was held back from playing despite working out and doing a couple of viral dunks during practice.
He played in a career-high 70 games last year before injuring his hamstring during the Play-In Tournament against the Los Angeles Lakers. The injury ended his season and prevented him from playing in the playoffs last season. Williamson is averaging 23.6 points and 8.2 rebounds this year.
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