UPDATE: Zion Williamson will replace Joel Embiid as an All-Star starter for Team Durant. The NBA announced the change after Williamson's media availability was completed this morning.
From the moment he entered the NBA in 2019, Zion Williamson has emphasized the importance of family to him. Despite limitations on the way the 2021 All-Star Game will be held Sunday in Atlanta – the event is not open to the public, so there won’t be a sold-out crowd – that’s one reason the 20-year-old was all smiles this morning. In a Zoom meeting with media members, Williamson noted that each NBA All-Star was allowed to have a small number of guests at the game, which for him will include his immediate family.
“I’m very grateful for that,” he said. “In my opinion, it’s still a great experience, because I at least get to share it with family members I grew up with in the household. I’m going to have a good time and just enjoy myself.”
Williamson’s first All-Star appearance will take place in Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, roughly 175 miles from where he played high school basketball in Spartanburg, S.C. Although there won’t be hordes of Williamson fans traveling south from the Carolinas to witness his debut in the midseason showcase, his brother, Noah Anderson, will be in attendance.
“Come on, you know this,” a smiling Williamson said, when asked if his kid brother is coming to the All-Star Game. “Noah’s the man! You know he’s going to be there.”
Williamson will also be joined on Team Durant by two familiar faces with ties to his college background. A total of three Duke University products were chosen as 2021 All-Stars – Williamson, Brooklyn guard Kyrie Irving and Boston forward Jayson Tatum – and all of the Blue Devils ended up on the same roster, picked Thursday by Brooklyn forward Kevin Durant. Incidentally, Durham, N.C., is roughly a 5 1/2-hour drive to Atlanta.
“I mean, that’s dope,” Williamson said of having a pair of All-Star teammates who also played for Mike Krzyzewski. “You obviously know about The (Duke) Brotherhood. For all three of us to be on the same team, that’s dope. We all shared a college experience at Duke, at different time periods. Whenever I catch up with those guys, it’s always great.”
The weight of Williamson’s All-Star status and achievement began to sink in for him while being congratulated by opposing players at each game New Orleans played since the Feb. 23 announcement on TNT. The 6-foot-7 forward indicated that the moment it truly became real was when he saw his mother Sharonda after arriving home from the Pelicans’ practice facility and she mentioned the honor.
As he prepared to play in his first All-Star Game and experience the unprecedented one-day format for festivities, Williamson noted that he’ll keep some advice he received from his family in mind as the day unfolds.
“It’s a lot to take in for sure,” he said of being a first-time All-Star. “But the best thing I can do right now is what my parents told me: Enjoy the moment, don’t let a moment pass without you enjoying it. I’m just going to enjoy it moment by moment.”