Duke Sensation Zion Williamson Already Dreaming of Lighting Up Madison Square Garden
Duke freshman Zion Williamson is likely to be drafted in the top five picks of the 2019 NBA draft, and he’s the odds-on favorite to go No. 1, with even NBA folks who don’t follow the college game referring to him as a generational talent with a ceiling whispered in hushed tones of Jabbar and Jordan and James.
The New York Knicks are a dumpster fire of a franchise with one of the worst owners in sports and a record, 9-24, that “trails” the 7-25 Chicago Bulls in a crowded five-team field, potentially the most epic tank battle since T-34s faced off against panzers in Prokhorovka in 1943.
Which means that one could intersect with the other and Williamson could be in a Knicks uniform this time next year.
And Zion, who played in his first game at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night as his Duke Blue Devils beat Texas Tech 69-58 on the neutral floor, seems enthused about the idea.
“If they draft me, I would love to play for the Knicks. … Forty-one games at the Garden, I mean, it would probably be incredible,” Williamson said after the game.
Of course, if he’s only playing 41 home games, that means the Knicks miss the playoffs with him, but rather than read anything into that, let’s just remind ourselves it’s the Knicks.
Williamson isn’t the only Duke player who could potentially trade blue and white for blue and orange next season.
Fellow Duke freshmen R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish are also drawing heavy buzz, as “Tank for Zion” has become “Tank for Zion/RJ” in those same NBA circles previously mentioned.
Zion Williamson on Knicks: I think this is RJ’s team. RJ, u wanna play for the Knicks? If they draft me, I’d love to play for the Knicks. I don’t really care where I go. Just the experience of being in the NBA whoever wants me & whoever sees the most in me that’s where I wanna be pic.twitter.com/HHYlKLlKK1
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) December 21, 2018
Barrett, speaking of the MSG faithful, said, “It was amazing. Electric crowd.”
Which is true for a college game, but a Knicks crowd has a tendency to sound like something between a funeral and a protest.
Williamson, meanwhile, engaged in the proud basketball tradition of paying respect to the past greats.
“This is the Garden,” Williamson said. “A lot of greats have come through here. My favorite great to come through here was probably Bernard King because my stepdad talked about him a lot how he just put the ball in the basket. … I had to go watch his highlights. He could really score the basketball. He was incredible how he did it.
“Playing 41 games here wouldn’t be so bad.”
Williamson fouled out of the contest with 17 points and 13 rebounds, three of his five fouls being called on the offensive end of the floor, which speaks to the one weakness of his game.
His superman athleticism is often his own worst enemy, and when he gets out of control of his body, he looks less like LeBron and more like JaVale McGee.
But for Knicks fans, the team’s struggle to attract marquee free agents means that, in the words of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “any love is good love, so I took what I could get.”
And when the hottest prospect in college hoops actually wants your franchise to draft him? Well, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
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