Emmanuel Mudiay has walked in Zion Williamson’s busted shoe.
Four years ago, Mudiay was a prized teenage prospect, nursing an ankle injury in China. The young guard had been sidelined for three months. The NBA draft was less than three months away, and the guaranteed lottery pick had little to gain by returning for the CBA playoffs.
“A lot of people were like, ‘Don’t play anymore,’ ” said Mudiay, who played on a one-year, $1.2 million deal for the Guangdong Southern Tigers. “But I just wanted to go there and play. I wanted to fulfill my commitment.