Wednesday night’s fiasco in the Duke-North Carolina game was what every young superstar fears. Zion Williamson’s near-serious injury is why many want athletes to have the option to forgo college and jump straight to the pros.
Look at Bryce Harper, he dropped out of high school, got his GED, played junior college baseball for a minute, then got drafted and was in the bigs before he was legally able to drink. Now he’s 26 and guaranteed a gigantic contract. (Maybe not a long one like he wants, but a big one nonetheless.) So, it’s work out well for him so far.
Which is why it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Williamson decides to sit the rest of the year out, given the scare against UNC.
Zion's shoe: destroyed 😳 pic.twitter.com/LqQ2te0Jay
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 21, 2019
He has the raw skills and the NBA build. He’s proven what he can do with those raw skills. There’s nothing he can do to increase his draft stock because he’s already the best guy out there.
Can he hurt it, though? Sure, especially if he gets hurt. Barring an injury, his stock shouldn’t drop much, as it pertains to his play. There’s so much right about Zion Williamson.
But what if he just sits out the rest of the season? No March Madness, none of it. Should teams care if he decides “me over we?”
He’s so good, no one may care. It seems he has the type of talent an NBA franchise can build around—though things can change when you his the league. And if there isn’t the drive to persevere through adversity, what good is all of that ability?
Now, that may not matter because the drop from Williamson to whoever’s projected to go second may not matter. He may be too good for any ancillary to impact how he’s—which seems to be the case.
The thing is, Williamson doesn’t seem like the player who will stop, no matter what people chirp in his ear. He imposes his will on everyone on the floor and always goes full tilt. Where some players might put everything on pause until it’s time for the draft, it wouldn’t be shocking if Williamson did just the opposite.
If he does that, then the NBA isn’t just getting a potential top-10 talent, they’ll get something unique, something you don’t necessarily find in a top-notch player, for whatever league it is. The NBA, and whoever drafts him, would get a winner.
