The Jan. 22 addition of Zion Williamson to New Orleans’ starting lineup seemed to immediately vault the Pelicans to a new level confidence-wise, while also making them a more dynamic offensive team. Easily forgotten in the story of the 2019-20 season: The Pelicans were already turning a corner prior to the prized rookie’s memorable, nationally-televised NBA debut vs. San Antonio.
On Thursday, New Orleans announced that Williamson has left Orlando to attend to an urgent family medical matter, meaning the Pelicans will be without their second-leading scorer (23.6 ppg) and second-best rebounder (6.8 rpg) for an undetermined amount of time.