Zion Williamson Talks Possibly Missing Season, Rookie of the Year Due to Injury

Even if he might have lost out on the Rookie of the Year Award in the process, New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson never really considered sitting out the entire 2019-20 NBA season as he recovered from a torn meniscus.

The No. 1 overall pick told ESPN's Maria Taylor on NBA Countdown he thought "a tiny bit" about shutting it down but that he couldn't "wait that long just to play basketball."

Williamson went on to say "it's fine" if he isn't honored as the NBA's top rookie at the end of the year.

"There's other things I can chase after, just do stuff with my team," he said.

When Williamson underwent surgery in October, the Pelicans were hopeful he'd be back by Christmas.

New Orleans dropped nine of its first 12 games to fall near the bottom of the Western Conference. As December came and went with little in the way of progress, some wondered whether the team might wave the white flag and sit Williamson down for the year. The Philadelphia 76ers went down that route with Ben Simmons in February 2017 as he was dealing with a foot injury.

Instead, Williamson made his long-awaited debut Jan. 22 in a 121-117 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He finished with 22 points and seven rebounds, and he reeled off 17 straight points during a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter to bring the Pelicans back into the game.

That night showed exactly why getting the 19-year-old on the court far outweighed whatever impact missing 44 games inevitably had on his chances of collecting year-end accolades.

The Pelicans are 3-2 with Williamson in the lineup, with four games separating them from the eighth-place Memphis Grizzlies. Making the playoffs remains an attainable goal for New Orleans, a stark contrast from where the franchise was a month or two ago.