Pelicans star Zion Williamson makes shocking claim about ‘80%’ of NBA players today
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Zion Williamson is back like he never left.
Emphatic dunks, energetic post-play, double efforts, and just overall bullying of everyone in the paint. Frankly, sometimes it seems like he simply took a hiatus from the NBA.
In his most recent game, which was against the Pistons, the man played just 20 minutes, scoring 13 points, on 50% shooting from the field.
Now, of course, his physical tools make him a nightmare to play against. But, there needs to be a lot there in terms of intangibles as well.
And there, it appears that about 80% of NBA Players have a very… off-beat source of motivation.
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Zion Williamson claims 80% of the NBA players today are into anime
You read that absolutely right.
In a recent interview with GQ, Zion Williamson was asked about his interests, and so on. And to that question, he had quite the interesting answer.
Williamson talks about Naruto with the same reverence with which other NBA players talk about the Bible—it brings comfort and clarity in equal parts. Over the course of this past year—an unusually tumultuous one in his otherwise starry career—Naruto was his north star.
GQ’s article describing the interview wonderfully continues further.
“Zion estimates that around 80% of players in the league are into anime; they just won’t admit it.
Those familiar with the conventions of the form know that it would be hard to craft a genre better suited to professional athletes: Shōnen anime (the term for shows targeted at boys) often revolve around a protagonist striving to achieve greatness in their chosen field, be it high seas piracy (One Piece) or fighting alien warlords using energy blasts so powerful they turn your hair gold (Dragon Ball Z).
They’re long-form stories about what it takes to be The Best—not incidentally, the same goal that drives athletes.”
Once upon a time, anime was popularly considered nothing but Japanese cartoons. And to a certain extent, they absolutely are.
However, labeling them as nothing more than that would mean being ignorant of the brilliance of shows like Attack on Titan, Naruto, One Piece, and countless more shows. And because of that, this little statistic probably doesn’t come as a surprise to more than just a few fans.
However, it’s always fascinating to know that even the athletic heroes of many watch something as quirky as anime.
What can we expect from Zion Williamson?
To be frank, it would be unfair to keep expectations astronomically high from the get-go for this man, this season. After all, he has only just recovered completely from a meniscus injury that started in college.
However, as the season wears on, and he gets more reps in, it is easy to see he will be one of the best players in the NBA. And perhaps because of it, we could see the Pelicans competing for a championship very, very soon.
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