Zion Williamson: Process Difficult, But Thankful For Pelicans

Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson will continue to rehab his fractured foot injury away from New Orleans, the team announced in a press release.

While the Pelicans offered no specifics, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Williamson will be continuing his rehab in Portland.

“As you can imagine, this has been a very difficult process for me,” Williamson said in the release. “I know there’s work to be done in my recovery before I can safely return to the court, but I will continue to put in the time necessary so I can get back on the floor with my team and represent Pelicans fans and the city of New Orleans at the highest level.

“Basketball means everything to me, and I am thankful for the Pelicans organization and everyone who has surrounded me with love and support throughout this journey — my family, friends, teammates, coaches, staff, fans, and everybody who has stood behind me and uplifted me when I needed it most.”

The Pelicans have been willing to accommodate Williamson and even arranged for his transportation out of New Orleans to continue his rehab, ESPN’s Andrew Lopez relayed.

“Since we notified everyone on December 16 of his latest imaging, it was decided then by our medical team to dial his rehab back to only partial weight bearing activities. He continues along that path,” Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said in the statement.

“We also agreed that in order to put Zion in the best position to succeed, he will rehab away from the team at this time so he can focus on the task at hand.”

The former No. 1 overall pick has yet to play this season after undergoing offseason surgery on is right foot. He started to ramp it up, but the Pelicans shut him down from all basketball activities Dec. 11, indicating Williamson had suffered a setback in workouts.

The Pelicans announced on Dec. 16 that he was likely to miss at least another 4-6 weeks.

Williamson, 21, is 6-foot-7 and averaged 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 61 games last season.

This marks the second time in three seasons he has missed a large chunk of time with an injury, and that alone is truly a bit concerning. As we relayed in November, the Pelicans have even changed their culinary practices to help Williamson get to an ideal playing weight.