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Zion Lateef Williamson (born July 6, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward position.[1] Following a freshman-year stint with the Duke Blue Devils, Williamson was selected by the Pelicans with the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2020. In 2021, he became the fourth youngest NBA player to be selected to an All-Star game.[2]
Born in Salisbury, North Carolina, Williamson attended Spartanburg Day School, where he was a consensus five-star recruit and was ranked among the top five players in the 2018 class. He led his team to three straight state championships and earned South Carolina Mr. Basketball recognition in his senior season. Williamson also left high school as a McDonald's All-American, runner-up for Mr. Basketball USA, and USA Today All-USA first team honoree. In high school, he drew national attention for his slam dunks.
In his freshman and only season with Duke, Williamson was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Athlete of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year. He set the single-game school scoring record for freshmen in January 2019, claimed ACC Rookie of the Week accolades five times, earned AP Player of the Year, Sporting News College Player of the Year recognition, and won the Wayman Tisdale Award.
- ^ "Zion Williamson". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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