This season's number 1 draft pick missed most of the first half of the regular season due to a knee injury. 19-year-old Zion Williamson was able to play only 10 games before the first half of the regular season officially ended with the NBA All-Star Weekend. In those 10 games, he broke several NBA rookie records.

Williamson scored back-to-back 30-plus point games, the only player to do it since Michael Jordan's rookie year in 1984. He also scored 20 plus points in eight of his first 10 games, another record held by Michael Jordan which he now shares with the Pelican rookie. They are the only two players in the NBA with this milestone.

He also scored 221 points in his first 10 games, the third over-all behind legends Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson. According to the New York Post, he is also the first rookie since 1966 to score over 30 points, post five rebounds, and five assists, while playing below 30 minutes.

Williamson's team, the New Orleans Pelicans, is only in 11th place this season at 23-31. In the last 10 games, they are on a four-game winning streak and won seven games with Williamson. They only lost to powerhouse Denver Nuggets in his debut game, the Houston Rockets, and the league leaders Milwaukee Bucks. That's a 70% winning rate that would put them in second place in the Western Conference behind leaders Los Angeles Lakers.

The rookie is now averaging 22.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists as an NBA player. He is shooting 57.6% in the field, but a dismal 65.4% in the free-throw line. His 285-pound frame and bad free-throw shooting remind people of a smaller Shaquille O'Neal.

Williamson played in the rising stars challenge as a replacement for Wendell Carter Jr. The Pelican rookie wasn't initially selected to play due to missing most of the games in the regular season. In the All-Star game, he is the first player since the snap-back rim design to damage the rim as a rookie with a powerful dunk since guess-who? -Shaquille O'Neal.

Zion Williamson
Zion Williamson Erik Drost/Creative Commons