Stephen A. Smith Labels Zion Williamson A "Bust," Social Media Fights Back

Amidst a much-publicized spat with LeBron James, Stephen A. Smith isn’t budging from some pretty harsh hot takes. His latest diatribe is aimed at New Orleans Pelicans‘ star Zion Williamson after the team announced that he’s been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Despite the decision coming after Williamson suffered a lower back contusion in March, Smith no longer wants to hear excuses made for who was hyped up to be a generational player and eventual number one pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Due to injuries, Williamson has missed 258 games during his six seasons while only playing in 214, so the ESPN pundit is tiptoeing around calling him the b-word: bust.

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“I feel very, very bad for the Pelicans and the city of New Orleans. Zion Williamson is a star-caliber talent. When he’s on the court and healthy, he’s a monster. The problem is he’s rarely available. And as great as he is, the word ‘bust’ comes to mind,” Smith says. “Not because of his talent, I’m only talking about his availability. If you’re not available, it doesn’t matter how great you are. And he’s almost never available.” Smith continues, adding that the true sign that Williamson may have hit a ceiling, only hampered by constant injuries, is that he wouldn’t even be valuable on the trade market. The Pelicans have even altered the language in his contract to make the possibility of dealing him more favorable, but they’ve also not shied away from his unimpressive durability, including publicly refusing to let him play in back-to-backs. Coming off a 2023 season where he played a career-high 70 games, Williamson was ready to have a solid run alongside Dejounte Murray, Brandon Ingram, and veteran CJ McCollum. However, he felt limited by team brass despite a 25-point career average. “Let me make this clear to everybody out there,” Williamson told The Athletic‘s Will Guillory in January. “If I could play in the back-to-backs, I would. Physically? Yes, I can. But I work for the Pelicans. They have decided that, based off the numbers, it’s not smart to do that right now. If that’s what they feel, I’m rocking with them on that.” But now McCollum is also shut down for the season, and the Pelicans sit in 14th place in the West with a 21-54 record, so it’s proven to have been another frustrating year for the New Orleans squad. See how social media feels about Williamson toying with the bust label.

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