Sights and Sounds from Zion Williamson's NBA debut vs. the San Antonio Spurs

Yash Matange

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Sights and Sounds from Zion Williamson's NBA debut vs. the San Antonio Spurs image

It took 13 weeks and a few days but the debut of Zion Williamson, the No. 1 pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, was finally here. 

Starting in his first game, he received a rousing ovation from the Pelicans' fans at the Smoothie King Center as his name was called out:

For his first NBA regular season game, Zion donned the Air Jordan XXXIV "Bayou Boys” , which are set to release in March. 

Zion debuts Air Jordan XXXIV

After a scoreless four-minute first quarter, he banked in his first NBA field goal off of an offensive rebound, early in the second quarter.

He then played a combined eight minutes through the next two quarter before taking off in the final period. 

In his six-minute stint in the fourth quarter, he recorded 17 points (6-8 FG's; 4-4 3P's), three rebounds, two assists and was a plus-nine in 6:37 minutes of play.

His energizing four quarter display got the arena shouting MVP for him: 

After he checked out of the game, the fans wanted more:

Postgame, the rookie was gratefull for the MVP chants and the appreciation: “I’m not going to lie, that was different. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten to that magnitude.”

"I didn't have the outcome I wanted, so got to get better and move on to the next," Zion said in his postgame press conference.

The debut itself was a dream come true for Zion. He added: "It was everything I dreamed of, except the losing part. ... The energy the city brought, it was electric. I’m just grateful they did that. It was a dream come true.”

In a couple of days from today, the Pelicans host the Denver Nuggets and it'll be exciting to see how Williamson wows us next. 

Yash Matange

Yash Matange Photo