Zion Williamson Said He Has ZERO Minutes Restrictions This Season

Remember Zion? The most hyped rookie since LeBron that stepped in Day 1 and looked to be an absolutely unstoppable force when he was actually allowed to play?

Then, with the Pelicans fighting for their playoff lives and Zion reportedly being healthy, the team barely played him in the bubble. Remember in their first game in Orlando with the Pelicans holding onto a small fourth quarter lead, Zion came out with about 7+ minutes left in the fourth and never played again while the Pelicans blew the game. Fun times. Afterward, David Griffin pretty much came out and said Zion would be kept in bubble wrap

Well now from the sounds of things it finally looks like we're going to get a fully unleashed Zion Williamson. No minutes restrictions, no game restrictions, none of that shit. I for one could not be more excited. Call me crazy but the Pelicans and the NBA are better when Zion is on the court doing ridiculous things. At some point the team was going to have to take off the gloves when it came to Zion and if he's healthy then there's no reason to have restrictions on him. If the Pelicans are actually going to contend for a playoff spot, Zion is a pretty important piece to that puzzle.

I want to see if his jumper has improved at all. I want to see if he's able to make any strides on the defensive end playing under SVG. I want to see him dunk EVERYTHING. Last season's 24 games were such a tease. If he could put up 22/6/2 on 58% shooting while not being 100% and having zero experience in the league, imagine what an experienced healthy Zion could do. I'm not really sure how a Zion/Adams frontcourt is going to work but you bet your ass I want to find out. That seems like spacing could be an issue.

It's not an accident that Zion and the Pelicans have a Christmas game. The NBA is doing everything they possibly can to make sure Zion is viewed as the next face of the league. Personally, I think that can be different guys at once (Luka, Giannis etc) in a post-LeBron world, but when people hear Zion, they tune in. No doubt about that. Last year we had to deal with pretty much never seeing him play and getting little glimpses here and there. So now that there are no restrictions and he's 100% healthy, my guess is Pelicans games will once again be must watch stuff.

Can't wait.