“It Was Zion or Nothing!”: 6 Years Before Labeling Pelicans Star a ‘Bust,’ Stephen A. Smith Had a Meltdown Over Knicks Losing Out on Him

Zion Williamson’s last few years in the league have left much to be desired. The former first overall pick and one of the most anticipated talents to grace the basketball court hasn’t shown his fans much at all. His absence from the court and time spent dealing with injuries has finally pushed fans and pundits to the point of questioning his potential.

Stephen A. Smith joined the fray and labeled Zion Williamson a bust while making an appearance on Get Up. This is despite Zion’s status as an all-star and career 25-point-per-game scorer.

It’s sad to see that Smith’s once-positive opinion of the Duke star has turned to hate, as it’s easy to remember when the ESPN host got so angry about the Knicks missing out on Zion that he left the studio.

It’s been six years since the 2019 draft. That means it’s been six years since the New York Knicks, with their league-worst record, dropped to the third overall pick following the lottery. In fact, as Smith would mention, the Knicks have not moved up in the lottery since the team lucked into Patrick Ewing.

“We’re talking about a box office, dude,” said Smith, irately. “Where’s the LeBron James? Where’s the Michael Jordan? Where’s the Kobe?” he continued. “It was Zion or nothing.”

He would go on to downplay the Knicks championship-winning core in the 70s in order to demonstrate how the Knicks have lacked a must-watch player.

While the Knicks would end up taking Zion’s teammate RJ Barrett, it’s easy to remember why Smith was so unhappy. Zion was the National Player of the Year at Duke, one of only three players at the time to do so. He was the slam dunk first overall pick and was considered to be on the fast track to superstardom.

The Best Ability is Availability

Six years later and Zion has been close to as good as advertised when he plays. The Pelicans are four games over 500 with Zion and 65 games under 500 without him. Unfortunately, that stat demonstrates the problem. Zion has only played a little over 200 games in his career to this point. Considering there are 82 games a season, that is less than 50% availability.

That’s part of why Smith has decided to label Zion a bust after he was shut down again by the Pelicans, finishing year six with only 30 games played.

There is still a universe where Zion lives up to the potential he was billed with having. It is widely considered that the Pelicans have the worst medical staff in the NBA.

If Zion were to be traded, he would have much to prove but would likely be in a far better environment. Smith said it himself– “If you’re not available, it doesn’t matter how much talent you have.” An apt conclusion to the situation in New Orleans.