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Age: 23

NBA experience: Four seasons (four with Pelicans)

Games played/games started: 70/70

Key stats: 22.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 5.0 apg, 1.1 spg, 57.0 FG percentage

After being selected as a Western Conference All-Star in each of the previous two seasons he played, Williamson did not garner that prestigious honor this time, but 2023-24 was still indisputably his best and most rewarding campaign as a professional. The Pelicans won 42 games with Williamson in uniform, leading to their most successful regular season (49-33) in 15 years. Those 42 triumphs zoomed past the 11, 29 and 17 victories New Orleans registered with the Duke product on the floor during his first three seasons, respectively. His impact on winning was undeniable, as he reclaimed his status as one of the NBA’s brightest and most promising young talents. Asked during April 30 exit interviews if he’s now emerged as the brilliant player everyone expected him to be when he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2019, the power forward replied, “I don’t know if that’s a question for me to answer. (But) I know where I’m going. I’m not going to speak too much on it, but I know where I’m going. And I know what’s about to happen.”

Zion Williamson’s per-game stats from the 2023-24 NBA season

GP GS MIN FG% 3P% FT% REB AST STL BLK PTS

Zion Williamson 70 70 31.5 57.0% 33.33% 70.2% 5.8 5 1.1 0.7 22.9

Zion Williamson by the numbers

14

Games of 30-plus points for Williamson this season, including 40 in the April 16 play-in tournament game vs. the Lakers. He may have surpassed his most points in an NBA game (43) that night if not for a left hamstring strain in the fourth quarter.

20

Williamson rank among the NBA’s scoring leaders. He joined Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic as the league’s three top-20 scorers who also shot over 56 percent from the field.

4

Games of double-digit assists this season for the improved passer, topped by 11 apiece in midseason matchups vs. Utah and Chicago. Prior to this season, his career high for assists in any single game was nine.

Zion Williamson’s three most notable games

#1, Dec. 11, New Orleans 121, Minnesota 107

The Pelicans were 2-0 vs. the West’s third-seeded Timberwolves when Williamson played this season, with both victories by double-digit margins. In his first game following the In-Season Tournament semifinal loss in Las Vegas, he returned with a vengeance, posting 36 points on 13/17 shooting from the field.

#2, April 16, LA Lakers 110, New Orleans 106

In the West’s 7-8 play-in game, Williamson was the best player on the floor, despite the presence of a pair of future Hall of Famers in purple and gold jerseys. In a 40-point, 11-rebound, five-assist performance – which also featured a highlight-reel block of LeBron James – Williamson carried the Pelicans, but his final fourth-quarter basket turned out to be his last points of a memorable game and season.

#3, Nov. 29, New Orleans 124, Philadelphia 114

Williamson has dominated his last two home games against the 76ers, tallying 30-plus points in both. The week after Thanksgiving, he delivered one of the most efficient offensive games of his career – which is saying something – going 11/12 from the field and 11/12 on free throws to score 33 points.