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Pelicans’ Williamson, McCollum shut down for rest of season
The New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the NBA’s most injured teams in 2024-25, and that trend will continue for the remainder of the season.
The New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the NBA’s most injured teams in 2024-25, and that trend is going to continue.
Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum will both miss the remainder of the season due to their respective injuries, the team announced on Monday.
Williamson, 24, leads the Pelicans in scoring with 24.6 points per game on a gaudy 56.7 per cent from the field to go along with 7.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 30 games. McCollum, 33, is averaging 21.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists over 56 games.
After initially missing significant time to start the season with a hamstring injury, Williamson sustained a lower-back bone contusion on March 19 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. McCollum was diagnosed with a bone contusion in his right foot on March 23 against the Detroit Pistons. Both players will be rehabbing their injuries through rest and treatment.
Williamson — the first overall selection in the 2019 NBA Draft out of Duke — has played 214 of a possible 492 games through his first six NBA seasons.
The Pelicans are 21-54, good for 27th place in the NBA, or fourth place in the “reverse standings” hunt for the projected first overall selection in the 2025 draft, Cooper Flagg — another Duke product.
