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Zion Williamson Headshot

New Orleans Pelicans | #1 | Forward

Zion

Williamson

PPG

18.3

RPG

8.5

APG

4.5

PIE

8.3

HEIGHT

6'6" (1.98m)

WEIGHT

284lb (129kg)

COUNTRY

USA

LAST ATTENDED

Duke

AGE

24 years

BIRTHDATE

July 6, 2000

DRAFT

2019 R1 Pick 1

EXPERIENCE

4 Years

6'6" | 284lb | 24 years

DRAFT

2019 R1 Pick 1

BIRTHDATE

July 6, 2000

COUNTRY

USA

LAST ATTENDED

Duke

EXPERIENCE

4 Years

Player Bio

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

In 184 career appearances (all starts) with New Orleans, averaging 24.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists while shooting .592 from the floor, .341 from three-point range and .695 from the free throw line…Has scored in double figures 180 times, including 145 performances of 20 or more points and 46 times he has scored 30-plus points in a game…Has posted 33 double-doubles…2022-23 Season: Started all 29 games he appeared in, averaging 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 33.0 minutes per game…Shot .608 from the floor, .368 from three-point range and .714 from the free throw line…Scored 30-plus points nine times…Notched 20-plus points 23 times…Scored in double-figures in 28 games…Posted five double-doubles…Was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for games played December 5-11. During that stretch, he led New Orleans to a 3-0 week, recording averages of 33.0 points (second among Western Conference players), 8.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 37.3 minutes per contest while shooting 70.4 percent from the field (first in the NBA among players that registered 13.0 or more field goal attempts per game)… Williamson finished the week as one of two players in the West to average at least 30 points per game and the only Western Conference player to average at least 30 points and eight rebounds…On 10/19 at BKN, added nine boards, three assists and a season-high four steals in 30 minutes of action… On 11/23 at SAS, finished the game with 32 points and 11 rebounds, notching his fifth-career 30/10 game… He scored 28 of his 32 total points in the paint, which is tied for the most points anyone has had in a single game all season…Williamson only played 26 minutes and posted 32 points and 11 rebounds, there are only eight other players in NBA history to have been able to do that… Lastly, Williamson finished the last three quarters of the game shooting perfect 11-of-11 from the floor…On 12/2 at SAS, notched his third 30-point game of the season, scoring 30 points to go along with a career-high 15 rebounds and eight assists… On 12/28 vs. MIN, posted a career-high 43 points, converting 14-of-21 (.667) from the field, a perfect 1-of-1 from three-point range and a career-high 14-of-19 (.737) from the free throw stripe. In the second half, Williamson scored 33 points, which is tied for the most points in any half in franchise history… Missed 53 games on the season…2021-22 Season: Missed the entire regular season due to a right foot injury…2020-21 Season: Scored in double-figures in all contests, including 33 games of 20 or more points and 21 30-plus point performances… Shot .611 from the floor (8th in NBA), .294 from deep, and .698 from the foul line…Named to the 2021 NBA All-Star Game, becoming the 10th player in NBA history to earn All-Star recognition prior to turning 21, and the fourth youngest player in NBA history behind Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Magic Johnson…Recorded 20-plus points in 25 straight games (2/5-4/6), marking the longest streak in NBA history for a player under 21 years old… Averaged 27.0 points on .611 shooting from the floor, becoming the first player in NBA history to average 27 points on .600 shooting for an entire season… Williamson becomes the fourth player in NBA history to average at least 24 points on 60% shooting for a season, joining elite company (Kevin McHale (BOS) 1986-87: 26.1 PPG; .604 FG%, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (LAL) 1979-80: 24.8 PPG; .604 FG% and Wilt Chamberlain (PHI) 1966-67: 24.1 PPG; .683 FG%)…Through first 60 career games, scored 1,457 points, trailing only Michael Jordan (1,664) for the most in the last 40 seasons, and posted 20-plus points 49 times, trailing only Jordan (52) for the most 20-point performances… It only took Williamson 79 games to reach 2,000 career-points, which is the quickest to score 2,000 points in Pelicans franchise history…This also marks the fewest number of games needed to reach 2,000 points since Michael Jordan (73 games) in 1985… PHI (4/9) Williamson set a new career-high in rebounds with 15… He is the second player in franchise history to record a stat line of at least 37 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, joining DeMarcus Cousins… Recorded his fifth 30-point game while shooting over .750 from the field, becoming the first player in NBA history to do so before turning 21 years old… Only Shaquille O’Neal (3) and Kevin Garnett (2) have also recorded multiple such games… Through his first 50 games, Williamson posted 1,180 career points, ranking first among active players through their first 50 games (Blake Griffin ranks second with 1,144), recorded his ninth career 30-point outing, tying Blake Griffin for the most by an active player in their first 50 games, and notched a .600 shooting percentage, ranking fourth all-time in NBA history for the highest field goal percentage in a player’s first 50 games (min. 250 FGA)…Shot a career-best 14-of-15 (.933) from the floor and 8-of-11 (.727) from the free throw line, at DAL (2/12)…Recorded his 1,000th career point in his 44th career regular season game as a pro at IND (2/5)... He became the first player since Blake Griffin to get to 1,000 points by their 44th career game, and the two players are tied for the shortest amount of games to get there by active players… Williamson’s field goal percentage (.866) is the highest shooting percentage in a 30-point game in Pelicans franchise history… 2019-20 Season: Appeared in 24 games (all starts) for New Orleans in his rookie campaign, averaging 22.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 27.8 minutes per game…Scored in double-figures in all but one contest, including 19 games of 20 or more points and three 30-plus point performances…Shot .583 from the floor, .429 from deep, and .640 from the foul line…Holds the second-highest scoring average through his first 24 career games since 1983, trailing only Michael Jordan (24.8)…Among all rookies, Williamson ranked first in PPG, FGM (8.8), O-RPG (2.7) and second in RPG…Averaged 16.8 points in the paint, ranked second in the NBA, 4.2 second chance points, ranked fourth in the NBA, and 3.6 fast-break points, ranked 12th in the NBA…Selected to participate in the 2020 Rising Stars Game at NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago as a member of Team USA...Tallied 20-plus points in 13 consecutive games from 1/31-3/4, the second-longest 20-point streak by a rookie since 2000 (Blake Griffin – 14, 2010-11)… Earned Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors for February, appearing in nine games while averaging 25.7 points on .563 shooting from the floor, 6.2 rebounds (including 3.2 offensive), 2.6 assists and 1.0 steals… Williamson became just the fourth Pelicans rookie to score 30 points, joining JR Smith, Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, and became just the seventh rookie to post at least 31 points, nine rebounds and five assists in one of his first nine career games… Notched his first career double-double with 21 points and 11 boards vs. BOS (1/26)…Made his NBA debut vs. SAS (1/22), tallying 22 points, seven rebounds, and three assists…Williamson became the first player in NBA history to score at least 22 points while playing less than 20 minutes in his debut game.

BEFORE NBA

College (Duke: 2018-19): NCAA Player of the Year by Naismith, Wooden, NABC, USBWA, AP and The Sporting News…Only the third freshman to receive the AP honor in its 58-year history, joining Kentucky’s Anthony Davis and Texas’s Kevin Durant…Recipient of the Karl Malone Award, honoring the top power forward in college basketball…Selected as the National Freshman of the Year by both the NABC and USBWA…Consensus All-America First Team selection…Finished 16th nationally and second in the ACC in scoring (22.6 ppg)…Ranked second in the nation in field goal percentage with .680, the second-highest single-season mark in ACC history…Ranked third in the ACC in rebounding (8.9 rpg), second in steals (2.12 spg), and fifth in blocks (1.79 bpg)…Helped Duke to an ACC Championship and an Elite Eight appearance, averaging 26.4 points and 9.1 rebounds over seven postseason games…ACC Player of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP. High School: Five-star recruit ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the class of 2018 by ESPN…Honored as a McDonald’s All-American…Represented Team USA at the Nike Hoop Summit…Rated as the No. 5 overall prospect and the No. 3 small forward in the class by Rivals.com…Ranked No. 5 overall and the No. 1 power forward in the 2018 recruiting class by Scout.com…Ranked No. 5 overall and the No. 1 power forward in the 2018 24/7 Sports composite list…Led Spartanburg Day School to three consecutive South Carolina Class AA state championships…Averaged 36.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists during his high school career…Racked up 37 points, 17 rebounds and six blocks in the 2018 state championship game and 51 points in the 2017 edition…Named by USA Today to the 2017 and 2018 American Family Insurance All-USA Boys Basketball First Team…Led the USA Red Team to the 2017 Adidas Nations Championship.

PERSONAL LIFE

Full name is Zion Lateef Williamson…Didn’t play football in high school but was offered a scholarship by LSU…Enjoys writing poetry, listening to Jay-Z, and watching Naruto…Has a brother, Noah…His mother Sharonda ran track at Livingstone College, and his stepfather Lee Anderson played basketball at Clemson…Introduced his signature shoe, the Jordan Zion 1, on April 20, 2021…Favorite 2K is 2K13…Favorite place to eat in New Orleans is Dragos…Favorite athlete outside of basketball is Serena Williams…Favorite movie is He Got Game…Favorite TV show is Naruto.