Zion Williamson's status has been one of the great mysteries of the 2021-22 season. When he was initially diagnosed with a fractured foot, he was expected to be available in time for the beginning of the season. And then he wasn't. The New Orleans Pelicans offered only vague and inconsistent updates. Williamson himself never spoke. And now, with the season coming to an end, it appears as though Williamson won't be returning to the floor at all. After missing most of his rookie year, his third season is on track to come and go without a minute of game time as well.
Where that leaves Williamson moving forward, we can't say, but for the first time in months, the Pelicans forward gave fans a morsel of optimism. On his Instagram story, he posted this video of him doing a monster between-the-legs dunk.
Zion Williamson just posted this to his IG story:
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) March 23, 2022
(And if you’re wondering if it’s recent, he’s wearing his new Zion 2 shoe in it) pic.twitter.com/0Xy1EAmAww
As Andrew Lopez of ESPN notes, the video is recent. What exactly this means for Williamson's recovery is ultimately speculative. All we can say for certain is that he's capable of throwing down cool dunks in an empty gym. It remains unlikely that he returns to the court this season based on all prior reporting.
But just hearing from Williamson at all at this stage is meaningful because he's been practically invisible all season. He spent a good chunk of it recovering from his injury in Portland rather than New Orleans. He has rejoined the team and is participating in light workouts, but otherwise, one of the NBA's best players has largely been absent from the season as a whole. If nothing else, it's at least meaningful to know that he wants to get the message out there that he's still capable of incredible feats like this.
