Zion Williamson feels your pain, Knicks fans.
He was rooting for the Knicks to pull the No. 1 pick in Tuesday's NBA Draft lottery, according to ESPN.com, which cited an unidentified source. When he instead saw the Pelicans shoplift the top spot, Williamson was "quickly whisked" out of the NBA Draft lottery room in Chicago.
Zion Williamson was QUICKLY whisked out of the room after Pelicans were announced the winner of the draft lottery. Source said the former Duke star was rooting to go to New York, but now is going to New Orleans.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) May 15, 2019
It was the shocking ending to a chaotic lottery reveal that saw the Knicks fall to No. 3. Now they and their fans — and Williamson — likely face the prospect of picking whoever the Grizzlies don't at No. 2 behind Williamson.
Most speculate that will be Ja Morant or Williamson's Duke teammate, RJ Barrett, though Knicks GM Scott Perry threw out a lot of names ahead of the lottery in addressing what would happen if what happened happened: the Knicks didn't get the top pick, the New York Post reported under the prescient headline, "Knicks guide if NBA Draft lottery turns into nightmare."
Williamson? It appears he'll have to continue to merely visit Madison Square Garden, as he did in December when Duke played Texas Tech there.
He remained coy all season about his preferred destination in the NBA, but, according to the New York Daily News "there he was in December, glowing in the Madison Square Garden locker room" after that Blue Devils-Red Raiders matchup.
“It would probably be incredible — this is the Garden,” Williamson said when asked about playing at MSG full-time. “A lot of greats have come through here. My favorite great to come through here was Bernard King. My stepdad talked about him a lot, how he just put the ball in the basket. … I had to go watch his highlights. … He was incredible how he did it.”
Now, instead, it appears he'll have to look up some old New Orleans Jazz highlights of Pete Maravich.
