25-under-25: Zion Williamson is Atlas and New Orleans rests on his back

Zion Williamson has the talent, charisma, and highlight-reel freakability to make Pelicans fans forget all about Anthony Davis. That’s why he’s already No. 7 on The Step Back’s 25-under-25 list.

What’s really in a name?

I have a long-running theory that sports figures with cool and/or unique names get artificially inflated because of that and that alone. They receive more fanfare than those of similar ilk and maintain the prestige of a star well past their sell-by dates.

While Zion Williamson certainly falls into the cool name club, his abundant mix of celebrity, talent, charisma and endless highlight-reel ability give him more than enough to exceed any false hype. He’s even graduated to single-name status, joining the likes of Cher, Madonna and Seal. In other words: the ultimate level of superstardom.

Unless you’ve seen the things Zion can do on the court, it’s hard to put the experience of watching him into words without questioning the physics behind it. It’s like trying to understand how airplanes work. Something that big and heavy shouldn’t be able to fly. I imagine Zion was who Sir Isaac Newton had in mind when he wrote his second law of motion.

Williamson entered our lives as a high schooler, gaining nationwide hysteria from throwing down viral dunks and dropping 51 points in state championships.

He then went off to Duke (the biggest and only flaw) as the third-best — but by far the most exciting — recruit in his much-heralded class. He quickly shot past both RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish as the Blue Devils’ top player and became appointment television.

In his lone college season, Zion won the Wooden Award and turned into a near-perfect draft prospect as one of the best one-and-dones you’ll ever see.

Oh and he got so powerful, HE LITERALLY EXPLODED THROUGH HIS LITERAL SNEAKER. The confines of synthetic mesh and rubber built for mere mortals couldn’t hold him.

Aside from a fun name and electrifying play style, Williamson’s build (read: thicc) makes him further stand out from the crowd. He looks like a Transformer that turns into a cement mixer truck, but got stuck in-between shape shifts.

Pop quiz, hotshot. See if you can pick the true Zion Williamson fact from the choices below:

A) Zion weighs one metric ton.

B) He’s actually a pile of moon rocks that bound together and took on a sentient human form.

C) Williamson was conceived in a foundry when they melted down four Sherman tanks and poured them into a person-shaped mold.

D) Popeye’s temporarily sold a 6-foot-10 box of chicken — the length of Williamson’s wingspan — to commemorate him being the No. 1 pick for New Orleans.

E) He’s ticketed to play The Thing in the next Fantastic Four reboot due to having the same body type and density.

If you guessed D, you are correct. That humongous box — containing 77 pieces of chicken, 11 biscuits and 11 orders of fries — sold at one Popeye’s location and cost $75. Also, if you guessed D you’re wrong because it’s really all of the above.

Point is, Zion’s not of this world and came at the perfect time for a team in need of a savior.

This summer, New Orleans lost the best player in the history of its franchise in the middle of his prime. A blow of that caliber could have been a death knell for a small market team, hanging over it like a storm cloud of devastation for years. The Smoothie King Center would have turned into a depressed haven, packed to half capacity with dispirited fans sipping on stodgy fruit juices.

Instead, the Pelicans landed the first pick in the 2019 draft and immediately filled the void with the best draft prospect since, well, Anthony Davis. Pelicans fans dodged a miserable fate and will get to root for one of the most exciting teams in the league with Williamson at the forefront.

Like Atlas, Zion will put the city of New Orleans on the crest of his brawny shoulders. He won’t just ease the blow, he’ll make people forget about their former unibrowed star big man with every windmill dunk.

He’s already taken to repping his new city well. In an act that will endear him to the fanbase even more, Zion attended the Saints season opener in what turned out will be one of the best games of the season.

Could it be a coincidence he was in the house for a crazy ending, capped off with Will Lutz drilling a 58-yard winning field goal as time expired? Who can really say for sure? All I know is a rising tide lifts all boats.

Zion just signed an endorsement deal with Jordan Brand and unveiled his new shoe, the Air Jordan 34. He did all this while putting on a dunk exhibition at a community event up in Harlem, New York City. As he soared, the ball passing between his legs and eventually slammed through the hoop, the crowd mobbed him in adoration upon landing.

Past or present, few players could bring out that level of unbridled joy and sheer excitement from fans. It’s a level of star power that occurs inherently. Of course, it doesn’t hurt when you’re the closest humans will get to flight either.

Zion Williamson. Sometimes a name says it all.