Schedule shows NBA souring on Zion Williamson

Williamson's Pelicans are on national television 12 times, but six of those are on NBA TV, a channel that many viewers don't get. If you're counting games on TNT and ESPN, the Pelicans have just six games, down from 11 last season and 10 the year before.

That's a huge drop from Williamson's rookie year, where New Orleans was on national TV for a franchise-record 30 times, with only 10 of those relegated to NBA TV, and two games scheduled for ABC. But the networks got burned that year by their Zion fever, as he suffered a knee injury in the preseason and played just 24 games. In his third season, Williamson didn't play at all.

Once the future of the league, Williamson has become an afterthought among the NBA's young stars. After another injury-filled season and a scandal-filled summer, the NBA and its broadcast partners aren't banking on Williamson anymore.

The new darling of the NBA is French big man Victor Wembanyama, who like Williamson was the No. 1 pick in the draft. Wemby and the Spurs will be on national TV 19 times, with 11 of those coming on ESPN and TNT. Perhaps anticipating that the Spurs, who went 22-60 last year, won't be in the regular playoffs, three of their in-season tournament games will be on ESPN or TNT.

As for last year's top pick, Paolo Banchero, his Orlando Magic have just one TNT game on the schedule: a matchup between 2022's No. 2 pick, Chet Holmgren, and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Banchero may be the Rookie of the Year, but the cable networks clearly aren't sold on his stardom yet.