Zion Williamson, Fanatics Agree to Multiyear Contract for Exclusive Memorabilia

Fanatics announced Wednesday that it has reached an exclusive, multiyear deal with New Orleans Pelicans superstar rookie Zion Williamson for memorabilia and collectibles:

Fanatics executive vice president Victor Shaffer released the following statement regarding the company's agreement with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft:

"Zion is one of the NBA's most electric young talents, and we are incredibly excited to have him join our Fanatics team to create an unprecedented offering of authentic items for fans everywhere. We've seen incredible demand for both his Duke Blue Devils and New Orleans Pelicans products from fans around the world, and through this partnership will now be able to offer the most real-time assortment of officially licensed products ever available."

ESPN's Eric Woodyard recently reported that more Zion-related memorabilia has been sold on Fanatics' website network since his Jan. 22 NBA regular-season debut than that of any other player in the league. Woodyard added that Williamson is in the top five among NBA players in combined merchandise and memorabilia sales on Fanatics with a month-over-month growth of 175 percent.

Zion missed the first three months of his rookie season with a knee injury, but he has been dominant since his debut.

Williamson leads all NBA rookies with 24.2 points per game, and he is averaging 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest while shooting 58.8 percent from the field.

In the 16 games Zion has played this season, the Pels are 8-8, and they are just 18-27 without him.

With Williamson leading the way, the Pelicans are in the Western Conference playoff hunt, as they trail the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies by four games.

Although Zion will finish the 2019-20 season playing in less than half his team's contests, he still figures to be a factor in the Rookie of the Year race, which speaks to how dominant he has been when healthy.