Zion Williamson says he hasn’t felt this good since college or high school, and he had a message for those criticizing the New Orleans Pelicans that should make the former Detroit Pistons ‘Bad Boys’ legend now leading the team’s front office proud.
Williamson’s struggles to stay on the court were again a focal point at Pelicans media day on Tuesday, Sept. 23 ahead of the start to the NBA preseason. But this year, there is no angst or concern being expressed about Williamson’s status, even though he played in just 30 games last season due to hamstring and back injuries.
Pelicans coach Willie Green praised the work Williamson put in this offseason. Teammate Trey Murphy III declared him to be ‘slimmer than I have ever seen him during the summertime.’ Joe Dumars, the former Pistons star hired as New Orlean’s executive vice president for basketball operations in April, deemed Williamson’s offseason to have gone ‘great.’
‘I haven’t felt like this since college, high school,’ Williamson said, ‘where I can walk in the gym and I feel good.’
Williamson, 25, is entering his seventh NBA season after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft out of Duke. The two-time All-Star had a strong statistical campaign in 2024-25, averaging 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists, but he again had issues being in the lineup on a consistent basis. Williamson has played more than 30 games in a season just twice since entering the league due to a variety of ailments, and his weight and conditioning have frequently been mentioned in conjunction with his lack of availability.
But the insertion of Dumars into the mix in New Orleans appears to be having an impact on Williamson thus far. Dumars said he spent his first offseason with Williamson preaching responsibility and accountability and that ‘you can’t be great without any responsibility.’ Neither Dumars nor Williamson would go into detail about what the responsibility would entail, outside of being a better leader for an organization that finished with a 21-61 record in 2024-25 due to a litany of injuries.
‘I like Joe. What you see is what you get. He’s going to hold me accountable and as he holds me accountable, he’s going to give me a lot of responsibilities as well,’ said Williamson, who has three seasons left on the max contract extension he agreed to with New Orleans in 2022. ‘I’m excited for it and I look forward to it. I know he’s going to hold me to a really high standard and if I slip up or anything, I know he’s going to be right there to make sure I get right back on path.’
‘It helped a lot that they believed in me,’ added Williamson, while also mentioning new Pelicans General Manager Troy Weaver.
Williamson said a key difference this time is the rehab plan put together by the Pelicans when he came back from his hamstring injury last season. The team incorporated more of a variety of workouts, with football and boxing training involved to keep Williamson engaged throughout the process. He also prepared for this season with a familiar face, working out with former Pelicans assistant and WNBA great Teresa Weatherspoon.
But expectations aren’t high for New Orleans, and Dumars’ decision to trade an unprotected 2026 first-round pick to move up to select Derik Queen in June raised eyebrows. The Pelicans also added Jordan Poole in an offseason trade involving C.J. McCollum as they await the return of Dejounte Murray from a torn Achilles suffered last January.
Williamson emphasized he feels differently about the Pelicans’ outlook, in part, because Dumars has brought a new energy into the franchise in which ‘nobody’s going for none of that soft stuff … that ‘Bad Boy’ mentality.’ His response to the naysayers on Tuesday played right along with that attitude.
‘I love the composition of this team. There was a time where I felt like Trey (Murphy), where I kept tabs on it, kept notes on it. But nah, that’s in the past for me,’ Williamson said of the team’s critics. ‘How I feel on it now? Whatever you said at that certain time, when we are in a certain position, you just got to stay over there. There’s no coming over here, don’t want validation. You don’t even have to waste your time and say, ‘Them guys really did it.’ I don’t care. You just got to stay over there.’