As a society, we are awful at admitting when we’re wrong. It’s something I’ve tried to work on personally over the years so consider this me admitting I was wrong. Going into 2019 NBA Draft, I was extremely confident that Zion Williamson would be a better NBA player than Ja Morant. I was very wrong (at least for now).
It has been nearly a full year since Zion Williamson played in an NBA game. He hasn’t played in a single game this season. And it’s been reported the New Orleans Pelicans shut him down for the season in order to continue his injury and get him back to full health.
The team’s decision to shut Zion down for the season led a lot of people to speculate on the severity of his injuries. That’s a bold move from the team and it seems to imply that he’s in bad shape. To counter that perception, Zion Williamson broke the Internet on Tuesday night with a 5-second clip of a between-the-legs windmill dunk.
It’s an absolutely electric clip that came out of nowhere. But there’s also something fishy about it. See if you can spot what a lot of people are talking about, I’ll explain below…
Zion pic.twitter.com/B3m4ru5LOu
— Pro Pels Talk (@ProPelsTalk) March 23, 2022
A post shared by BASKET STEPS (@basketsteps)
NBA Twitter exploded on Tuesday night when the Zion Williamson dunk clip hit the Internet. But many fans quickly noticed something was up with the floor. Zion’s estimated to weigh 284 pounds.
He’s a BIG guy. But Shaq weighed 324. Plenty of NBA players are/were heavier than Zion. So why exactly is the floor moving? Is that a trampoline pad on the ground? Is it a trampoline court? Is it an optical illusion? Here’s what people are saying about it on Twitter…
I’ve watched this video 10 times trying to figure out what is going on with the court and I’ve got nothing. https://t.co/y41hi531iz
— Gabe Ikard (@GabeIkard) March 23, 2022
Only thing I can think of is that they have some sort of material that reduces force on his legs but I’ve never heard of anyone using that before in basketball. ??♂️
— Gabe Ikard (@GabeIkard) March 23, 2022
either that floor padded or he weight 400lbs but atleast he still got bounce tho
— IG: @TheOfficialLouRawz (@OfficialLouRawz) March 23, 2022
What in the world? A padded gym?
— Jesse McConnell (@mcconnellj) March 23, 2022
The floor is the same material they use at Woodward so kids can try 900s on vert ramps without killing themselves.
— Daniel Clark (@DanielDayClark) March 23, 2022
Padded floors would explain the height Zion Williamson is getting in the clip…
This is the highest he gets. Concerning pic.twitter.com/U4MZzortkv
— Lord of the Dings (@DingsLord) March 23, 2022
I’m not sure what to make of this clip. It’s great to see Zion Williamson in the gym throwing down spectacular dunks. And it seems like just yesterday he was playing for Duke and blowing out his sneakers in front of a packed house. Now we’re out here speculating about whether the floor is real…