Kevin Durant praises Zion Williamson's athleticism: He's 'one of one'

It's a huge matchup for both the Brooklyn Nets and New Orleans Pelicans, and for fans of the NBA, it features a matchup between two of the most exciting players in the game. They may not often find themselves going one-on-one, but Kevin Durant and Zion Williamson are two of the must-watch players in this league.

To have them featured in the season opener is a treat.

Speaking of one-on-one, Durant recently expressed some extremely positive thoughts about Williamson - 2019's No. 1 overall pick — as he was previewing the game with the media. In fact, Durant called the young big man "one of one" in terms of his place among "shorter" bigs who still found a way to dominate the NBA game. 

"You've seen guys at that size, 6-7, that can get up and down the floor and move, but not at that level, though," Durant told the media on Monday, per ESPN. "You've seen guys like Jason Maxiell, I'm not saying they jump as high as Zion, but they were undersized guys that played bigger. And Zion's one of those guys. Rodney Rogers -- I'm missing so many guys that were that tall at 6-6, Charles Barkley bruiser-type guys but played bigger. But Zion's athleticism trumps all of theirs by far. And when you add that to the mix, it makes him a one of one."

Williamson is officially listed at 6-foot-6, 284 pounds according to the Pelicans' website. He's on the shorter end of NBA forwards compared to, let's say, Giannis Antetokounmpo at 6-foot-11, 242-pounds, but Williamson has all of the MVP potential as the "greek freak" if he can stay healthy this season.

Durant was asked about his feelings on Williamson being back on the court after over a year away due to injury. 

"Excitement. Athleticism," Durant said. "Somebody that can put up points pretty fast. It's a matchup problem for a lot of people, so we got our work cut out [with] him, and then you got two other scorers behind him [in Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum] that can score from all levels. So we got our work cut out for us, but it's going to be exciting times when guys get healthy, especially the marquee guys in this league."

Williamson averaged 27 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 61 games played in 2020-21.