Ahead of the Brooklyn Nets’ season opener on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans, Nets superstar Kevin Durant gave Zion Williamson a glowing review, calling the former No. 1 overall pick a one-of-a-kind talent.
Basketball insider Nick Friedell of ESPN reports that Durant speaks highly of the stretch forward.
“You’ve seen guys at that size, 6-7, that can get up and down the floor and move, but not at that level, though. You’ve seen guys like Jason Maxiell, I’m not saying they jump as high as Zion, but they were undersized guys that played bigger. And Zion’s one of those guys. Rodney Rogers — I’m missing so many guys that were that tall at 6-6, Charles Barkley bruiser-type guys but played bigger. But Zion’s athleticism trumps all of theirs by far. And when you add that to the mix, it makes him a one-of-one.”
Durant is excited” to see Williamson back on the hardwood.
“Athleticism. Somebody that can put up points pretty fast. It’s a matchup problem for a lot of people, so we got our work cut out [with] him, and then you got two other scorers behind him [in Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum] that can score from all levels. So we got our work cut out for us, but it’s going to be exciting times when guys get healthy, especially the marquee guys in this league.”
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