Duke Basketball: Why Zion Williamson must dress against Wake Forest

Regardless of whether Zion Williamson is 100 percent in time for the Duke basketball team’s home finale, he should dress the part so that fans can give him the farewell he deserves.

Last memories matter because of their lasting power. Therefore, no matter the status of an uber-famous right knee on Tuesday, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski must take matters into his own hands to direct a feel-good ending to the legendary film titled Zion in Cameron.

The Blue Devils’ 39th-year legendary director owes it to the fans to initiate a plan to replace what would currently go down as the horrific last scene of Zion Williamson playing on Coach K Court — the opening-minute blown-out shoe, the knee sprain, and the subsequent state of shock his teammates suffered that led to now-No. 3 UNC snatching the first round of the rivalry, 88-72 (Williamson has missed the three games since).

Unless Men in Black arrive with neuralyzers, Dukies will never be able to fully erase the nightmare memory of Feb. 20. But they could experience another moment that would wake them up from the nightmare and make them feel so much better (not to mention that if Duke wins the national championship, the injury would likely be looked back upon as the catalyst for team greatness rather than the worst possible disaster).

If Williamson — a 6-foot-7, 280-pound forward out of Video Game, USA, who averages 21.6 points and 8.8 rebounds and is still the favorite to be the Naismith National Player of the Year — is not comfortable playing meaningful minutes on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when No. 4 Duke (25-4; 13-3 in ACC) hosts Wake Forest (11-17; 4-12 in ACC) for its last home game of the season, he should still be dressed to play so that Krzyzewski can insert him into the game for at least the last couple of minutes.

No harm can be done if he checks in for the waning moments as the Blue Devils hold a substantial lead — which should be the case against a squad that has lost 10 of its 14 games since falling to Duke, 87-65, at home on Jan. 8 (Williamson dropped a game-high 30 points that night).

And if Williamson is unable to sprint up and down the court or is too worried what could happen to his knee if he is involved in actual game action, he could just walk around the perimeter — as the other nine are playing — while waving goodbye and high-fiving the Cameron Crazies.

A lovefest filled with reverberating chants would ensue. The meaningful moment — symbolic of the joy that Williamson, owner of the world’s widest smile, injected into the veins of all Duke fans all season — would forever echo inside Cameron.

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Now, a chance remains that the best-case scenario will play out. Williamson may play, possibly even start, against the Demon Deacons. If so, the Blue Devils would have an optimal final tune-up before the revenge opportunity against the Tar Heels on Saturday in the Dean Dome — a matchup that may decide which of the rivals receives a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance.

Coach K told media members during his weekly teleconference on Monday that he has not ruled out that possibility (according to Krzyzewski, Williamson is in the fourth and final phase of his recovery).

But let’s assume Williamson isn’t quite ready, meaning Plan B (as laid out above) becomes necessary. If that is the case, Duke’s lone scholarship senior, seldom-used big man Antonio Vrankovic, surely won’t mind sharing his Senior Night spotlight with Williamson — as well as with the other three freshmen studs who are all also likely to be in the NBA next season (R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones).

And if need be, assuming the game is out of hand and in order to add more oomph to the get-hyped-for-UNC party, Krzyzewski could probably convince Wake Forest coach Danny Manning to inform his players not to guard Williamson on the final possession of the game for the Blue Devils. That way, Zion could leave Cameron with a final memory that would necessitate a new roof for the 79-year-old building.

It wouldn’t have to be a 360, a windmill, or a tomahawk — all of which he displayed, in spectacular fashion, for the home crowd this season. Even a simple dunk from Williamson at the end of the Wake game — combined with Crazies chanting GTHCGTH — would blow the roof off Cameron while making UNC forward Luke Maye notice a wet spot on the front of his pants.

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Sure, Duke fans’ faces will still be wet with tears as Zion exits stage left. But at least the ending to Zion in Cameron won’t be the horror story of the superhero lying in pain on the ground with the nemesis — Maye’s eyebrows — dominating the background.

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