NBA Season Preview 2022-23: 5 players with the most to prove this season
By Luke Anton
4. Zion Williamson — New Orleans Pelicans
Like Ben Simmons, Zion missed all of last season — although for completely different reasons. (A broken foot last summer was the crux of it.) Zion has played in just 85 out of 226 possible games since entering the league three years ago, but the Pelicans still gave him the full rookie max extension this summer. That’s at least a $193 million bet (and possibly up to $231 million) that Zion will prove his worth as one of the best and most efficient players in the league. That’s exactly the player he was two seasons ago, the fourth-youngest All-Star in NBA history at the time.
So far in the preseason, Zion has looked fantastic once again. Agile and quick. Explosive and thunderous. And it’s clearly evident that he’s brimming with happiness.
In the immediate on-court postgame interview after his first preseason game, Zion said with a big smile, “My wind is fine. That was light. I can’t lie to you, that was light.”
Zanos is ready to show the league he’s still an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.