Excitement is growing over the restart of the NBA in late July. The New Orleans pelicans will be one of 22 teams back in action and Zion Williamson is one of the players that fans can’t wait to watch again.
In no time, Williamson had a big impact in the league: he was one of the most productive teens in NBA history.
But he is no longer a teenager.
Fan of Pels, help us wish a happy 2nd birthday to @Zionwilliamson! ???????? pic.twitter.com/BtTiFqIwW2
– New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 6, 2020
While Williamson celebrates an important milestone on Monday, let’s take a quick look at what he has already accomplished, with the assistance of ESPN Stats & Info:
Williamson scored 448 points in 19 games, most through the first 19 games of a player since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 (486).
Williamson is scoring an average of 23.6 points with 59% shots – on pace to join Shaquille O’Neal as the only novice to score 20 points on average with 55% shots in one season.
Williamson scored at least 20 points in 13 games in a row – the longest streak of a teenager in NBA history and the longest streak of a novice since Blake Griffin in 2010-11 (14 in a row).
In defense, Williamson held opponents at 22% by shooting 3 pointers when contesting the shot as the closest defender – according to Second Spectrum, which is the lowest percentage allowed among 345 players to contest at least 50 3 pointers in 2019-20. He is just ahead of Kawhi Leonard (23%).
The maximum number of games of the normal season that Williamson can play this season is 27. If he wins the Rookie of the Year, this would break the record for the least number of games played by an individual to win that prize – Vince Carter (1998- 99) and Patrick Ewing (1985-1986) had played the least number of games from a rookie of the year to 50. (For Carter, his season was 50 games long due to a blockage).
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