As the New Orleans Pelicans move through a late-season playoff push, the team will be without one of its franchise cornerstones for another few weeks.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday that All-Star forward Zion Williamson will miss at least the next two weeks due to his hamstring injury.
He initially suffered the ailment on Jan. 2 against the Philadephia 76ers and experienced a setback just prior to the All-Star break. Since then, he’s struggled to make significant progress in his recovery, which has pushed him to miss more than two months.
Despite that, head coach Willie Green voiced confidence that Williamson will be on the floor before the end of the regular season.
“He’s building his strength,” Green said of Williamson’s recovery process via ESPN. “Doing some pool workouts. He can get on AlterG (anti-gravity treadmill). He can get on the floor and spot shoot. He’s progressing, but we’re extremely mindful of the last time we got to six weeks and he wasn’t quite ready. So we want to make sure we’re mindful of that.”
The Pelicans have fallen to nearly being out of the play-in tournament. They sit behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the 10th spot.
Want $250 to bet on NBA futures?
Since entering the NBA, he’s missed significant playing time in each of his first four seasons. He missed all of the 2021-22 campaign due to a broken foot he suffered in the offseason and hasn’t appeared in more than 61 games in a single season.
The Pelicans will continue to monitor the situation closely to avoid any additional setbacks.
