NBA rookie Zion Williamson spends hiatus relearning basketball fundamentals

New Orleans Pelicans rookie, Zion Williamson, from Duke University is this season's first-round number one draft pick. While some top picks turned out to be failures, Williamson does not seem to be one of them. In a show of exceptional work ethic, the rookie spent the entire quarantine period "relearning" basketball fundamentals from square one.

Williamson started the season late due to a knee injury, He debuted only on January 22, in a 121-117 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. In mere 18 minutes of play, Williamson scored 22 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. It earned him a place in the Pelicans starting lineup.

It turned out to be the right choice for the team. He became the first teenager in NBA history to score 20+ points in his first 10 consecutive games including a 35-point performance against the Los Angeles Lakers. He led the Pelicans from one of the worst- performing teams in the NBA to a playoff contender in two short months.

According to ESPN, Williamson worked out with his stepfather, Lee Anderson, during the hiatus. He started to relearn basketball "as if he was 5 years old again."

Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry claims that it seems to have paid off. In just one practice session, Gentry can see how much Williamson's game has improved during the period when the two were not together.

Williamson's current shot chart shows that he is a dominant player in the paint, but has not done anything in the mid-range area. He also started his career shooting 4 out of 4 in the 3-point line, but has been 2-for-9 since then. Williamson claims that the league should be ready to see a ranged shooting game from him that nobody has ever seen before.

The rookie has only played 19 games in the NBA. He averages 23.6 points and 6.8 rebounds a game. At 6 ft. 6 in. (1.98 m) tall and weighing 285 pounds (129 kg), he is a bit on the heavy side, but is fast, agile, with a freakishly high leaping ability. Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant described him as a "once-in-a-generation" type of athlete.

If the Pelicans can knock-out the 8th placed Memphis Grizzlies during the round-robin games in Orlando, Williamson has a chance to steal the NBA's coveted Rookie of the Year award from the current favourite, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant.