Zion Williamson: It Was 'Tough' and 'Sickening' to Be Pulled from Pelicans Debut

New Orleans Pelicans superstar rookie Zion Williamson said it was "tough" to get removed from his NBA debut Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs with over five minutes left and the game's result still hanging in the balance.

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry pulled Williamson aside for a conversation after taking him out with 5:23 left in the fourth quarter and the team trailing 111-108. The Spurs held on for a 121-117 win with Zion, who tallied 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes, watching from the sideline.

"It was sickening, but had to accept it," he told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday's edition of The Woj Pod. "... I didn't want it, but gotta look at longevity."

New Orleans has proceeded with extreme caution when it comes to the health of the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft.

He suffered a minor knee injury in his first game of the Las Vegas Summer League, and the team immediately ruled him out for the rest of the tournament.

Gentry made it clear in early January that safety-first approach would remain in place once Williamson returned to game action after knee surgery following four preseason appearances in October:

So, while disappointing for the fans in attendance at the Smoothie King Center who chanted "we want Zion" during the game's final minutes, the team's actions Wednesday didn't come as a surprise.

"It was sort of predetermined that he was going to have four bursts that were not going to be any longer than a certain minute number," Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said on The Woj Pod. "... When he shows fatigue, it's time to come out, and it's an automatic."

Gentry added: "It was tough to do and it was tough for him, he did not want to hear that. But I think for us, obviously we're looking long-term, and it was tough for him because he really felt like he could help us win that game and he probably could have, but I think we also gotta be smart about it."

Complicating matters was the fact San Antonio is the current eighth seed in the Western Conference, which made Wednesday's loss a two-game swing in the playoff race for NOLA. It now sits four games behind the Spurs for the final berth in the West.

While the Pelicans own a lackluster 17-28 record, the returns of Williamson and Jrue Holiday from injuries in recent days have bolstered their postseason hopes.

They showed Wednesday that playoff push likely won't impact their plans with Zion during the season's second half, though.