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After Rudy Gobert sank free throws to put the Utah Jazz up by two points with 6.9 seconds left, the New Orleans Pelicans called a timeout to set up one final play to potentially win or extend the game into overtime.
Except, No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson wasn’t on the floor.
Williamson sat the final seven minutes after the Pelicans placed him on a strict minutes count. He logged 15 minutes of work in the contest, playing in 3-4 minute bursts at the start of each quarter. His night was over after checking out at the 7:19 mark of the fourth quarter.
The No. 1 overall pick recorded 13 points and one assist in the 106-104 loss as his 15 minutes of playing time set a new low this season. Williamson even logged more minutes in his debut game on Jan. 22 following knee surgery last year.
“I was told the minutes he could play and that’s what I did,” Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said afterward. “I don’t know what the numbers are or anything. That would be something that you would have to ask the medical team.”
The way the Pelicans have handled his playing time this season has become frustrating for fans and has created confusion around the NBA, especially in the team’s latest efforts on Thursday. Williamson maintains he is in shape but said the team wasn’t holding him back, either.
The team hasn’t offered many details on the situation surrounding Williamson. He recently missed time after stepping away to attend to an urgent family matter and said he hasn’t suffered any setbacks but he is just getting back into the flow of the game.
“Not even just conditioning, it’s just getting my flow to the game back,” Williamson said. “This is the NBA, these are the best players in the world. You want to feel comfortable, I don’t want to hurt my team more than I help them.”
The 15-minute limit on Thursday seemed to be overly cautious, especially for a player that returned to the team noticeably ripped. Williamson worked out each day in quarantine with the stepfather and likely didn’t do so with the idea of coming back to play only 15 minutes at a time.
Williamson estimated that it may take a few games to get back into the swing of things but given the nature of the eight-game season restart, missing a few games could be detrimental to the Pelicans qualifying for the playoffs.
The Pelicans return to action on Saturday vs. the Los Angeles Clippers.
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