On Wednesday, January 22, 2020, the No. 1 overall draft pick, Zion Williamson, made his NBA debut at the Smoothie King Center for the New Orleans Pelicans. The rookie was benched for 6 to 8 weeks by an injury (a torn meniscus in his right knee) and underwent surgery in October.

Towards the beginning of the game, Williamson seemed timid. He was not trying to score or attempting any major defensive plays as we’ve seen before in the past. Spectators are assuming that he can’t live up to the high expectations that the media has set for him.

Williamson had no points the entire first quarter, but shortly after the start of the second quarter, he scored his first official NBA bucket. Zion was taken out the game four minutes into the third quarter with 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 4 turnovers, in 12 minutes of action.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Williamson took over. He caught a hot hand going 4/4 from three. Williamson scored 17 consecutive points for the New Orleans Pelicans in a 3 minute time period. Every shot that was taken by Zion had the arena going completely wild.

Brandon Ingram, a power forward for the Pelicans, told Zion, “To let everything flow, play your game and everything will come together.” which must have worked as the game was coming to an end.

Williamson ended the game with 22 points, 7 rebounds, a 50% free throw rate, 72% from the field, and 5 turnovers. The Pelicans did not win, but they put up a long, hard fight. The final score 117-121 Spurs.

With his first game of his NBA career, Zion Williamson proved to the world he belongs in the NBA, and why he was the No. 1 draft pick.