Zion Williamson (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Zion Williamson has moved another step closer to returning.
After leaving the NBA restart bubble in Orlando to tend to an urgent family matter, Zion Williamson is now moving closer and closer to returning to action.
According to ESPN’s recently reinstated Adrian Wojnarowski, the rookie phenom has cleared his NBA-protocoled quarantine and will return to practice with the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday evening.
This may not seem like a significant development, but upon leaving the bubble, there were many questions about how long Williamson might have to self-isolate upon his return to the Walt Disney Resort, as well as whether he’d be able to stay coronavirus-free outside the bubble.
The Pelicans must be glad Zion Williamson is back.
One or two weeks of quarantine would’ve left the Pelicans without their future franchise cornerstone for a few seeding games and deprived the league of one of its main attractions for Thursday’s upcoming restart. Fortunately, it appears Zion has satisfied the NBA requirements of registering multiple negative tests for COVID-19 and has quarantined for long enough to be permitted to return to action.
Whether he’ll actually play in Thursday’s opener against the Utah Jazz remains to be seen, but more than likely, two days of practice should be enough time for the rookie sensation to get re-acclimated after being gone for just under two weeks.
The Pelicans should exercise caution if his body isn’t ready for the strain of significant minutes in real NBA games just yet, especially since he missed all three of the team’s tune-up scrimmages, but Williamson also arrived in Orlando in great shape a few weeks ago, looking leaner and stronger than ever.
Easing him back into the action is probably the way to go for head coach Alvin Gentry, but there’s no denying how important Zion Williamson is for the Pelicans, as well as for the general star power of the NBA’s opening-day slate. Here’s hoping the 20-year-old is able to get settled in quickly and suit up Thursday without any injury risk.