Zion Williamson is not ready to return to the court just yet.
The New Orleans Pelicans star will miss at least two more weeks recovering from a hamstring injury, the team said Wednesday. Williamson has played in just six games for the Pelicans this season and has been sidelined since Nov. 6 due to the injury.
Williamson went down for the first time in a loss to the Cavaliers last month and left the game due to the injury. Initially, the team expected him to miss four to six weeks, but initial treatments reportedly did not work as well as expected. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported just before Thanksgiving that Williamson will likely be sidelined until mid-December, if not longer, which lines up with what the Pelicans said Wednesday.
Williamson, whom the Pelicans selected with the first overall pick in 2019, has missed 210 of a possible 400 regular-season games with the team. He has averaged 22.7 points, eight rebounds and 5.3 assists this season. Williamson also reportedly broke up with his agents at CAA last month for unclear reasons.
Although Williamson has been frequently injured throughout his career, the team felt he was in the best shape of his career this fall. He reportedly lost more than 25 pounds before the season.
The injury is the latest setback the Pelicans have faced this season, which has not even been two months old. Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III, CJ McCollum, Jordan Hawkins and Herb Jones have all missed time due to various injuries along with Williamson, and that has cost the Pelicans significantly. They have lost 15 of their last 16 games and are just 4-18 on the season. Jones and Brandon Ingram, who was out with right plantar tendinitis, participated fully in Wednesday’s practice. José Alvarado is also dealing with a hamstring strain and will be out for at least two more weeks.
The Pelicans will face the Phoenix Suns on Thursday in New Orleans.