Arrived during last season, CJ McCollum had not played with Zion Williamson before October. For two months, he has therefore been as close as possible to the phenomenon and he recounts this experience in his diary. on the Andscape website.
For the former Portland player, the interior of New Orleans has shown the full extent of its potential in recent weeks, after a white season, however.
“We are starting to see what we thought we had with Zion”writes CJ McCollum. “I hadn’t seen it up close before coming here, and I only had an idea. Then I played with him. We have never seen anything like it. His style, his efficiency, his power, his strength. His finesse near the basket. He made a series of nine games at 30 points or almost, it’s huge. The worst thing is that he hasn’t played for a year and he’s starting to find automatics with his new teammates and the coaching staff. He regains his physical condition too. He is now comfortable. We are starting to see it at its maximum. I’m not saying that he is in the form of his life because he is only 22 years old, he will still improve. »
Zion Williamson is talking about him
The back notably mentioned the dunk of Zion Williamson at the end of the meeting against the Suns, which had ignited the debates between the two teams. For two reasons: the first is aesthetic.
“His 360° dunk against the Suns was the icing on the cake, the exclamation point. We talk about it all the time: he gave the fans a show. People work hard to buy their tickets. He gave the kids something to talk about for the rest of the year. When they got back to school, they talked among friends about this: ‘Did you see the Zion dunk?’ The kids and the spectators, when they come to the matches, hope to see moments like that, moments that leave you speechless. »
The second reason is more personal since CJ McCollum thinks that the former Duke player was pleased with this gesture.
“It was a cool moment for him, coming out of an injury, not being able to play. He probably had a lot of frustration coming out with this moment. He had rage, that’s for sure. It sounded like a jackhammer hitting the circle. It was a smooth, graceful dunk, but with tremendous power. His eyes were almost circled. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a dunk. »
| Zion Williamson | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2019-20 | NOP | 24 | 28 | 58.3 | 42.9 | 64.0 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 6.3 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 22.5 |
| 2020-21 | NOP | 61 | 33 | 61.1 | 29.4 | 69.8 | 2.7 | 4.5 | 7.2 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 0.6 | 27.0 |
| 2022-23 | NOP | 25 | 33 | 60.3 | 33.3 | 71.3 | 2.1 | 5.0 | 7.2 | 4.7 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 25.2 |
| Total | 110 | 32 | 60.4 | 33.3 | 69.0 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 7.0 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 25.6 | |
