Pelicans star makes honest admission on why he's not ready to return to lineup

New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson has missed the past 45 games due to a right hamstring injury he suffered earlier in the season.

New Orleans had provided semi-weekly updates on the oft-injured star since he went down back on Jan. 2. The latest update indicated that Williamson would miss the NBA play-in tournament.

With the Pelicans set to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder and a spot in the NBA playoffs on the line Wednesday evening, the former No. 1 overall pick is opening up about his absence. According to Williamson, he’s doing everything from a physical standpoint during this process. However, the big man is not yet ready to mentally return.

“I can pretty much do everything. It’s just a matter of the level that I was playing at before my hamstring. I’m just a competitor. I don’t want to go out there and be in my own head and affect the team. I can just be on the sidelines supporting them more. I know myself. If I was to go out there, I would be in my head a lot. I would hesitate on certain moves. And that could affect the game.”

Zion Williamson on missing the New Orleans Pelican’s play-in tournament, via Nola.com

There is certainly a lot that goes into returning to the court after such a long absence. Making said return with the season on the line would’ve added yet another layer.

Back on Feb. 12, Pelicans front office head David Griffin indicated that Williamson had suffered a setback in his return from the hamstring injury. At that point, he was expected to be sidelined for multiple weeks.

Now two months later, Zion will not be on the court when his Pelicans host Oklahoma City for a potential spot in the NBA playoffs. The winner of this game will take on the loser of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers matchup Tuesday night for an opportunity to earn the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and take on the Denver Nuggets.