Report: Zion Williamson 'Spent Extensive Time Around Outside Medical Experts' in NOLA

New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson reportedly explored potential solutions for his durability issues this offseason.

According to William Guillory of The Athletic, Williamson spent "extensive time" with "outside medical experts" in New Orleans this offseason with an eye toward figuring out how he can get his body to remain durable over the course of a full, 82-game NBA season.

Williamson has been a dominant force when healthy during his brief NBA career, but the 23-year-old has constantly dealt with injuries, including last season when he was limited to just 29 games.

New Orleans used the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft on Williamson out of Duke, but his health was almost immediately called into question, as he played in only 24 games as a rookie.

Zion bounced back to appear in a career-high 61 games in his second season, but he followed that up by missing the entire 2021-22 season with a foot injury, and missing 53 games last season with a hamstring injury.

Williamson reportedly did things differently this offseason compared to previous ones in an effort to be better prepared for the season.

In addition to consulting with medical professionals, Williamson reportedly spent more time than ever working out at the team facility and with teammates in New Orleans rather than traveling elsewhere.

Zion's best season to date came in 2020-21 when he was at his healthiest and averaged 27.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists en route to his first All-Star selection.

Williamson was off to a spectacular start last season as well, averaging 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists, and earning his second All-Star nod, but he never got to build upon it since a hamstring issue stuck with him all season.

At 6'6" and 284 pounds, Williamson can be a physically dominant force when he is on the court, but he has yet to prove that he can do it over the long haul rather than simply in short spurts.

Even with Williamson missing significant time last season, the Pels went 42-40 and narrowly missed the playoffs, which suggests their ceiling is quite high with a healthy Zion.

Williamson, Brandon Ingram, C.J. McCollum, Jonas Valančiūnas, Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III make for a strong core capable of doing significant damage in the Western Conference if Zion unlocks a key to being healthier and more durable during the 2023-24 campaign.