Before the likes of Victor Wembanyama, Zion Williamson was touted to be one of the greatest players in the NBA. Coming out of Duke University, Williamson was one of the most athletic and NBA-ready 19-year-olds the league had ever seen.
Zion Williamson in college was TOO NASTY 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ObnyUb6Ymr
— Backcourt Alerts (@BackcourtAlerts) July 20, 2023
Four years into his career, Zion has stepped into the star role for the rebuilding New Orleans Pelicans. Although he has shown flashes of All-Star play, chronic injuries, and off-court unprofessionalism has been hounding the youngster the past few seasons.
At first, it was only related to his weight and general physique. Williamson came into the league at 6 feet and 6 inches, weighing 280 pounds. This was a relatively heavy weight for someone of his 6’6 length, but GMs let it slide due to his unmatchable athleticism.
After a rookie season riddled with injury, Zion began to experience weight gain during his rehab time and this hindered his play and even recovery. Now in 2023, he looks fit and ready to play but another hindrance has been his alleged affair with ex-adult film star Moriah Mills.
Williamson’s personal life seems to be wildly complicated at the second and this is seriously impacting his NBA career, with many experts urging the Pelicans to wash their hands off of him and trade him away.
Anonymous NBA insider urges franchise to trade Zion Williamson
The Ahkeema-Moriah Mills situation has had deeper implications than Zion could have ever imagined. The extremely public way in which the news burst onto the scene (through an endless rant on Twitter from Moriah Mills’ account), has let every individual in the basketball community into the 23-year-old’s personal life.
Due to the Mills debacle, many other women started speaking up against Williamson and claiming that he had relations with them as well. This includes a model named Yami Taylor. These women have the receipts to back up their claims.
A league member associated with the Pelicans believes New Orleans should ‘pull the plug’ on the Zion Williamson era
“I had one person associated with a team tell me New Orleans should pull the plug on his era while they have the chance this offseason. I had another person tell… pic.twitter.com/MzSfLKIvpy
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) July 27, 2023
All this drama combined with the fact that Zion hasn’t been able to play a full season of healthy basketball is turning heads at the NBA and inside the Pelicans front office. An anonymous team official even believes that New Orleans should “pull the plug” on the Zion Williamson era and put him up for trade.
Others reportedly believe that all the noise will fuel him and he will play at an MVP level this coming season. Much is yet to be seen but all we can glean from these internal ramblings is that Zion Williamson is not untouchable and could be on the move in the near future.