Zion Williamson, an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans, has been lauded by C.J. McCollum for maturing significantly and understanding his role on the team.
Renowned for his on-court performance and selected as the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, Williamson’s career highlights include being named in the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2020, being the fourth youngest NBA player selected for an All-Star game in 2021, and winning the Wayman Tisdale Award during his phenomenal freshman season with Duke.
Zion Williamson has been performing exceptionally well during the preseason.
Here are some of Williamson’s 2022-23 season stats:
PTS: 26.0
REB: 7.0
AST: 4.6
FG%: 60.8
You can follow Williamson on Twitter at @Zionwilliamson and on Instagram at @zionwilliamson.
According to C.J. McCollum, Williamson has matured significantly and has a good understanding of what is expected of him. Williamson’s talent is unquestionable, and he knows how to elevate his game when the lights are on. He just likes to show off and demonstrate how good he is at the sport.
In high school, Williamson was a consensus five-star recruit and left as a McDonald’s All-American, runner-up for Mr. Basketball USA, and USA Today All-USA first-team honoree. He led his team to three straight state championships and earned South Carolina Mr. Basketball recognition in his senior season.
Williamson’s freshman and only season with Duke was phenomenal. He was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Athlete of the Year, and ACC Rookie of the Year. He set the single-game school scoring record for freshmen in January 2019, claimed ACC Rookie of the Week accolades five times, earned AP Player of the Year, Sporting News College Player of the Year recognition, and won the Wayman Tisdale Award.
The Wayman Tisdale Award is presented to the nation’s top Division I men’s freshman. Williamson is among the previous winners of the award, which includes Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd, and Chris Webber. The award has been named in Wayman Tisdale’s honor since the 2017-18 season.
Tisdale was a three-time USBWA All-American at the University of Oklahoma and played twelve seasons in the NBA before retiring in 1997 to focus on a blossoming jazz music career. He passed away in May 2009 after battling cancer. Tisdale was an accomplished jazz music bassist and released several albums. He began a company, Big Time Sports Apparel, which specialized in practice gear and sports clothing. He was also honored by former first lady Nancy Reagan for his work against youth drug and alcohol abuse. He lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his wife until he died.
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