Zion Williamson played a career-high 70 games last season and showed up to this year’s training camp in his best physical condition as a pro. The expectation was for the Duke alum to finally shed the “injury-prone” label that has plagued his young career and lead the Pelicans back to prominence.
In an unfortunate turn of events, the Pelicans announced Williamson suffered a hamstring strain last week, just six games into his new season. The report immediately raised red flags since Williamson missed 53 games due to a hamstring strain in the 2022-23 season and dealt with a hamstring injury during last year’s playoffs. Unlike several players who’ve returned from in-season hamstring injuries, Williamson’s 280-pound body hasn’t responded well to treatments, causing him to miss extended periods for an injury not deemed catastrophic in NBA circles.
As such, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Williamson misses a significant chunk of the 2024-25 season. To that end, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that the Pelicans expect their franchise star to miss a minimum of a month of action.
“The Pelicans are bracing for him to be out about four to six weeks,” Charania told NBA Today. “His return will be based on rehab and how that treatment goes on that hamstring strain.”
Charania noted that the Pelicans specifically used the word “indefinitely” while announcing the timeline for Williamson’s absence due to his previous history with the injury.
