He was the most hyped up high school prospect we’ve seen since LeBron James.
He was an All-star in his second year, Zion was set to become one of the most unique superstars in the league at 6’ 6” 270 pounds with a over 42 inch vertical, he averaged the most paint points per game since Shaq.
And now, Zion wasn’t even an All-Star, his scoring numbers are the lowest they’ve been since his rookie year. **It’s almost as if the world’s forgotten about him,** there’s no mention of the guy who got a $75 million shoe deal before entering the league.
But yet Zion has played the most games he has in a season. The Pelicans are 4th in the West, their most winning season since AD and we still aren’t hearing about him.
**Has Zion just fallen off?** Or are we looking at players all wrong now? Because that is probably one of the biggest problems in the league right now and it’s happening to Zion.
Stats are leading to hype. At least that’s what the media focus is, that’s what the analytical approach of the game has brought on.
That takes a new level of conditioning to play both sides. **So shout out to really getting in shape.**
And let’s not forget, Zion is back to bursting by people, he’s back to jumping high and dunking. The vert is back! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-MXAfkJB9A 2:35) He’s making finishes from all over the court, even when you think he has no angle or not path, his ability to leap and acrobat is way through traffic is special. While he might not be averaging the most points in the paint right now, he’s still pretty much impossible to stop. I just don’t get it. He knows exactly where to put the ball to not get blocked by Wemby here for the game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-MXAfkJB9A 1:48) His efficiency is still ridiculous at 62.3% true shooting.
We aren’t rewarding winning. Brandon Ingram is another example. His numbers have also taken a dip and if we look at google trends for Ingram, we can see that no one’s mentioning him.
Sometimes, the most monstrous stats on a not so great team, while impressive, mean either the team is trash or the player hasn’t figured out the right balance to get the team involved. And we’ve heard of that before.
Kobe was scoring 35 carrying the Lakers to a 7th seed. Jordan was scoring 37 and 35 but Phil Jackson had to get Jordan to dial it back and get his teammates involved.
we don’t always reward defense or the not so flashy parts of the game with the same vigor as offense. And that shift has happened over time where more and more stars of today just needed to be good offensively without a care to defense and defense was just a plus, not a requirement.
And all this leads to less awards, less accolades, and for players, less money. Making all-star, making an All-NBA team, that leads to million dollar bonuses in contracts.
Look at Kevin Love. When he joined the Cavs in 2014, he was coming off of averaging 26 points and 12.5 rebounds. This was a guy who could dominate, but wasn’t winning enough so he sacrificed his touches, changed his game and pretty much became an unsung hero going from MVP candidate to not even an All-Star. But sure he wasn’t a defense guy or the main guy. How about Steph who sacrificed his touches for Kevin Durant while Steph was literally in his prime off a unanimous MVP. Stats are not the end all metric, there’s context and nuance.
**So we should take a look at ourselves and understand that what we’re doing is wrong.** As much as we hold winning as a huge standard in determining if a player is good, we don’t put money where our mouth is.
All this so say, this might be a blessing for Zion that we as a community haven’t gotten our priorities straight. Because he seems to be thriving without the media constantly pressuring him, calling him out. He’s almost went under the radar and that’s allowed to put his head down and just ball.
He was an All-star in his second year, Zion was set to become one of the most unique superstars in the league at 6’ 6” 270 pounds with a over 42 inch vertical, he averaged the most paint points per game since Shaq.
And now, Zion wasn’t even an All-Star, his scoring numbers are the lowest they’ve been since his rookie year. **It’s almost as if the world’s forgotten about him,** there’s no mention of the guy who got a $75 million shoe deal before entering the league.
But yet Zion has played the most games he has in a season. The Pelicans are 4th in the West, their most winning season since AD and we still aren’t hearing about him.
**Has Zion just fallen off?** Or are we looking at players all wrong now? Because that is probably one of the biggest problems in the league right now and it’s happening to Zion.
Stats are leading to hype. At least that’s what the media focus is, that’s what the analytical approach of the game has brought on.
That takes a new level of conditioning to play both sides. **So shout out to really getting in shape.**
And let’s not forget, Zion is back to bursting by people, he’s back to jumping high and dunking. The vert is back! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-MXAfkJB9A 2:35) He’s making finishes from all over the court, even when you think he has no angle or not path, his ability to leap and acrobat is way through traffic is special. While he might not be averaging the most points in the paint right now, he’s still pretty much impossible to stop. I just don’t get it. He knows exactly where to put the ball to not get blocked by Wemby here for the game (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-MXAfkJB9A 1:48) His efficiency is still ridiculous at 62.3% true shooting.
We aren’t rewarding winning. Brandon Ingram is another example. His numbers have also taken a dip and if we look at google trends for Ingram, we can see that no one’s mentioning him.
Sometimes, the most monstrous stats on a not so great team, while impressive, mean either the team is trash or the player hasn’t figured out the right balance to get the team involved. And we’ve heard of that before.
Kobe was scoring 35 carrying the Lakers to a 7th seed. Jordan was scoring 37 and 35 but Phil Jackson had to get Jordan to dial it back and get his teammates involved.
we don’t always reward defense or the not so flashy parts of the game with the same vigor as offense. And that shift has happened over time where more and more stars of today just needed to be good offensively without a care to defense and defense was just a plus, not a requirement.
And all this leads to less awards, less accolades, and for players, less money. Making all-star, making an All-NBA team, that leads to million dollar bonuses in contracts.
Look at Kevin Love. When he joined the Cavs in 2014, he was coming off of averaging 26 points and 12.5 rebounds. This was a guy who could dominate, but wasn’t winning enough so he sacrificed his touches, changed his game and pretty much became an unsung hero going from MVP candidate to not even an All-Star. But sure he wasn’t a defense guy or the main guy. How about Steph who sacrificed his touches for Kevin Durant while Steph was literally in his prime off a unanimous MVP. Stats are not the end all metric, there’s context and nuance.
**So we should take a look at ourselves and understand that what we’re doing is wrong.** As much as we hold winning as a huge standard in determining if a player is good, we don’t put money where our mouth is.
All this so say, this might be a blessing for Zion that we as a community haven’t gotten our priorities straight. Because he seems to be thriving without the media constantly pressuring him, calling him out. He’s almost went under the radar and that’s allowed to put his head down and just ball.
