Former Duke Star Zion Williamson Goes Viral for Comments About Pelicans

Former Duke star Zion Williamson didn't hide his frustration following the New Orleans Pelicans' 145-111 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.

Speaking to reporters after the loss, Williamson called out everyone on the Pelicans to "go look yourself in the mirror" to figure out what went wrong in another blowout loss at home. 

"As men we have to, as a unit, players, coaches, everybody, you have to go look yourself in the mirror when you by yourself and say, did I do everything that I needed to do for my team? Did I do — was I in the gaps on defense? Was I a low man when I was supposed to? Did I get out there and contest shots to make it tough on them? Did I do everything I needed to do? Did I give in real effort? That's what everybody has to do," Williamson said. 

Williamson also called the Pelicans' performance "unacceptable."

The Pelicans have lost four straight games after a decent 4-4 start. They have the fifth-worst defensive rating and sixth-worst net rating this season.  

Williamson spent one season at Duke in 2018-19. He averaged 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game while shooting 68.0% from the field and 64.0% from the free-throw line.

How dominant was Williamson at Duke? He earned 31 awards and honors. The Blue Devils went 32-6 and made it all the way to the East Regional Final, where they lost to Michigan State by one point.  

The Pelicans took Williamson with the first pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Due to injuries, Williamson has played in only 287 games (as of this writing) with New Orleans. He's never appeared in a playoff game. 

For New Orleans this season, Williamson is averaging 23.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 62.2% from the field and 77.9% from the free-throw line. 

Williamson doesn't have a no-trade clause in his contract. He's making $42,166,510 this season and will make $44,886,930 next season in the final year of his contract. 

Williamson's career average of 27.8 points per 75 possessions trails only Joel Embiid (31.6), Luka Dončić (30.6) and Michael Jordan (30.3). That's pretty good. 

It will be interesting to see if Williamson gets traded this season. He only spent one season at Duke, but that 2018-19 season was so special that many Blue Devil fans still follow Williamson's career. He's an elite athlete who can jump out of the gym and get to the rim at will and finish in heavy traffic.