The former Duke Basketball star Zion Williamson will miss a portion of the regular season due to a right knee injury suffered in the preseason.
Zion Williamson‘s highly anticipated NBA debut will be on hold for a period of time as reports surfaced on Friday morning that the No. 1 overall pick will miss several weeks due to a knee injury.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Thursday that Williamson would miss the highly anticipated preseason matchup between the New Orleans Pelicans and the New York Knicks with a sore knee.
More from Ball Durham
- Duke basketball: The architect behind digital dominance
- Duke basketball prioritizing frontcourt prospects in 2025
- Duke basketball: Unmasking the hate for the Blue Devils
- Duke basketball: Countdown to Craziness lands another huge visitor
- Duke basketball fills final open scholarship
In the report, Woj said that Williamson would undergo more testing after not traveling to New York with the team.
The good news for the Pelicans is that it appears that Williamson avoided a serious injury that could potentially require surgery, but the team will seek multiple opinions the former Blue Devils knee.
This is not the first time Williamson had troubles with his right knee as it dates back to February 20 when he bursted through his shoe in the opening minutes against North Carolina.
Williamson did not return to game action until March 14 with what Duke was calling a ‘sprained knee’.
The knee issues followed Williamson to the NBA Summer League as he only played one half of a game with a ‘bruised knee’. The Pelicans said they were holding Williamson out of the Summer League as a precaution.
All three injuries have been involving Williamson’s right knee.
Zion Williamson has dominated the preseason, averaging 23.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 71.4% from the field. Williamson played in all four of the Pelicans preseason game.
ESPN reported that it is believed that Zion Williamson suffered the injury in the last preseason game the Spurs played on October 13 against the San Antonio Spurs. Williamson played 30 minutes in that game.
The New Orleans Pelicans will get its regular season underway on Tuesday, October 22 on the road against the Toronto Raptors at 8:00pm EST on TNT.