It took Zion Williamson less than 2 minutes for first NBA poster dunk

Early on in his first preseason NBA game, Zion Williamson threw down a monstrous dunk that serves as an immediate indicator of the kind of coverage he’ll receive this season.

It took all of one minute and 46 seconds for Zion Williamson to put someone on his first NBA poster.

It wasn’t his first basket of the New Orleans Pelicans’ preseason debut against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday, and yeah, it’s only preseason.

But given how NBA Twitter exploded in a way matched only by Zion’s gravity-defying dunk itself, such a monstrous highlight this early in his career cannot be ignored:

https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA/status/1181355141225537536

I mean, Damian Jones is hardly a household name in this league, but come on. Zion just ended the man’s career before it ever really began, and he did it in a preseason game. That may dull its impact for some, but chances are, the explosive speed and leaping ability on display here are going to translate over to the regular season too.

The dump-off pass from Jrue Holiday is underrated, but that’s probably going to continue to be the case as long as Williamson throws down dunks with that kind of strength, vigor and anger.

Look at it again in slow motion. It’s beautiful.

As the reigning No. 1 overall draft pick, Zion is going to receive ample coverage in away that even recent rookie phenoms like Luka Doncic and Ben Simmons didn’t. Every dunk, every alley-oop, every jaw-dropping moment will live, start a family, grow old, die and be reincarnated on NBA Twitter this season, and for many seasons to come.

His time at Duke taught us as much, as his every highlight was documented and played over and over on SportsCenter. Maybe his absence from NBA Summer League (outside of one appearance) only enhanced our hunger for everything Zion, since it’s been a while since we’ve seen him play a full, meaningful game.

Preseason NBA basketball hardly fits that category, but it’s the first substantial glimpse we’re getting of Zion vs. NBA-caliber talent. It took all of one minute and 46 seconds for us to like what we see.