Zion Williamson to Continue Rehab from Hamstring Injury Before Pelicans' Play-in Game

The timeline for Zion Williamson's return to the court remains up in the air as he recovers from a hamstring injury.

"After further evaluation, it has been determined that Williamson will continue his rehabilitation and conditioning regimen," New Orleans Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said in a statement on Thursday. "We will continue to monitor his progression, and updates will be provided as warranted."

The update—or non-update, given that we still don't know when, or if, Williamson will play again this season—probably won't leave Pelicans fans feeling particularly optimistic.

So Williamson will be out for Friday's matchup with the New York Knicks, and it can safely be assumed he'll miss Sunday's regular-season finale against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Pelicans are already guaranteed a play-in berth, so the question becomes whether Williamson can make his return for that tournament or during the playoffs if the Pelicans advance.

Regardless, Williamson's injury woes have become a massive concern. Here are the number of games he's played thus far in his career:

• 2019-20 season: 24 games
• 2020-21 season: 61 games
• 2021-22 season: Missed entire campaign with a foot injury
• 2022-23 season: 29 games

As the old cliche goes, availability is the best ability. It especially rings true for franchise superstars. And Williamson has had an alarming lack of availability in his career.

When healthy he's been an absolute force, averaging 25.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while shooting an incredible 60.5 percent from the field.

But Williamson hasn't been able to play since Jan. 2 with a right hamstring issue, an injury he re-aggravated in February and has been rehabbing ever since.

On Tuesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that Williamson had been participating in "low-intensity, three-on-three" workouts over the weekend but didn't practice with the team on Monday.

Shams added that the goal for the Pelicans was to get him back in game shape but that they wouldn't be rushing him back. Thursday's update from the Pelicans certainly jibed with that report.