The possibility of Zion Williamson living any kind of normal life vanished years ago, under the hubbub of YouTube mixtapes. Now with just 19 games in his professional career, he doesn’t even have the luxury of being a typical workday superstar.
When the NBA formulated an unprecedented and ambitious plan to continue its season in the midst of a global pandemic, with considerable risk, and despite staggering complexity, it apparently did so with Zion in mind. It would have been safer for the league to invite fewer teams and play fewer games by jumping directly into the playoffs. Instead, they designed a format that included Williamson and the Pelicans, which rank tenth in the West, while introducing a play-in mechanism that would allow New Orleans to compete for a playoff spot.
Coaches and executives with other teams will naturally explain that Zion is the reason why the restart is structured this way. He is a critical figure for the NBA at a precarious moment in its history. The inability to draw crowds to the arenas has destabilized the economic model of the entire league; In addition to losing hundreds of millions of dollars in ticket sales, NBA teams will also receive successes from missed opportunities to sell concessions, suites and sponsorships in the arena. As the bubble players advance into the early phase of the restarted season, NBPA Executive Director Michele Roberts has considered whether following The season will be possible without similar accommodations. “If tomorrow looks like today, I don’t know how we say we can do it differently,” Roberts told ESPN.
The NBA, while diligent enough to avoid any positive testing within the bubble, is also clearly waiting. The first significant game played in Orlando was planned to introduce Williamson and the Pelicans, allowing the rookie sensation to make the formal reintroduction of the league. It does not require an especially complicated analysis to understand why. Zion is enormously popular; He had one of the league’s 15 best-selling jerseys this season. Still, there is a difference between highlighting Williamson’s game and making him one of the faces of the NBA restart. The rookie is front and center in league marketing materials, shoulder to shoulder with the likes of James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Zion positions himself that way in part because his game warrants it (an incredible development for a player who hasn’t played 600 minutes yet), but also because the league needs it to be. In some ways, the NBA product has never been so popular. Sports fans now carry the game with them wherever they go, scattered in highlights while on their phones. The players themselves have become part of our daily diet. Watching a regular-season NBA game has never been easier, whether it’s across the country or around the world. All of this is complicated by metrics that indicate that the number of people actually consuming NBA games is in obvious decline. All of the devices that can be used to stream an NBA game can also be used to watch movies, play games, or otherwise fall deeper and deeper into the well of stunned and idle entertainment. Superstars seem to be the exception. The league formula is based on the idea that viewers will make time for LeBron, who leads the NBA in the present and underscores the need for an eventual successor.
These were the dynamics before A pandemic questioned every dollar the NBA earns. The very existence of the bubble is evidence of another level of urgency. Procedurally speaking, the league wanted to end its season and crown a champion. He also needed to meet certain contractual requirements and wanted to put sports live in front of a somewhat captive audience. When The last Dance aired in April, it drew 5.8 million viewers on average, more than the vast majority of first-round playoff games. There’s a crossover appeal when it comes to Michael Jordan, though the same could be said for any new sporting event right now. The NBA playoffs, if the league can handle them successfully, would be a cultural experience.
When given the potential for that kind of audience, the NBA first created a competitive framework that would allow Zion to participate, and then programmed it to be the first thing the public sees when games continue in earnest. The main contenders and defending champions will have to wait. The official beginning of the NBA comeback is a small-market fight between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Utah Jazz, anchored by an impending superstar. Of course, this assumes that Zion plays in the game; Williamson is one of several NBA players who left the NBA campus to attend to urgent personal matters. “I was dealing with a family emergency,” said Williamson. “First is God, then the family. Basketball wasn’t really there. I was dealing with something serious. “To preserve even the possibility that it would be available for the opening game, the Pelicans and the NBA arranged for Williamson to be screened daily for the coronavirus, shortening the mandatory quarantine upon his return.
Excused absences such as the one granted to Williamson reinforce how much the rest of the NBA seasons depend on what happens outside the bubble. League officials took great care in creating a regulated campus environment with layers and layers of safeguards to prevent the spread of the virus. However, three members of the Clippers, a team that could end up winning the title, have already left the bubble for personal reasons, including one who took an already legendary detour to a strip club for chicken wings. Gordon Hayward of Boston, Mike Conley of Utah and Garrett Temple of Brooklyn have already expressed their intention to leave the bubble to attend the birth of their children. The stakes are high for the NBA, yet they can only control a few hotels, a few arenas, and the space in between. Zion could have taken every precaution while on leave and still come into contact with the virus. Even if the NBA discovered his hypothetical infection before he compromised the integrity of the bubble, he would still have put in place the best plans to showcase an ambassador awaiting the league.
The pressure created by Zion’s departure and return to the NBA bubble revealed how much the league depends on the prospect of its stardom. This is an unreasonable burden, the kind that makes the pressure to revitalize an entire franchise seem picturesque in comparison. “I think we need to be a little careful about adding all of these extra things on his shoulders,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “He is here to play. He’s here to have a good time. However, a player like Zion, first recruited overall and feted as he was, should know that he’s not just in Orlando to have a good time and take his team to the playoffs. Every game you play is for the future of the league.
