If You Don't Think Zion Williamson Has Game You've Never Watched Basketball

This is a take I got quite a bit last week, especially when Duke lost. People telling me that Zion Williamson doesn’t have game or he’s just an athlete pretending to be a basketball player. I’m here to tell you, you’re a flat out moron if you think that. That might even be a compliment.

Is Zion Williamson an athlete? No, he’s an absolute freak. There’s no denying that. Yes, his dunks do take up the majority of the talk when it comes to him and his highlights. But, that’s not what makes him a special player.

He’s one of the most unique players we’ve seen at the college level. The fact that he’s 6’8″ 285 and can do so many different things. It starts with his handle. Duke runs sets where Zion is the primary ball handler and initiates the offense. Outside of that he’s exceptional at catching the ball in ISO sets on the wing and then attacking from the mid-high post off the bounce. When you look at his numbers, they back the claim that ‘he has game.’ He’s graded out excellent offensively. He’s graded out excellent in ISO, transition and post up according to Synergy. He’s graded out as very good in cuts. Defensively he’s graded out as excellent and giving up just .581 points per possession.

If you want to look at standard stats he’s putting up the following:

Not too shabby. Want to go more advanced stats? He ranks in the top-500 nationally according to KenPom in the following stats: ORtg, %of Possessions, %of Shots, effective field goal percentage, true shooting percentage, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, turnover percentage, block percentage, steal percentage, fouls drawn/40 minutes, FT rate and 2pt percentage. That’s why he’s currently the No. 4 player of the year on KenPom’s advanced stats.

It’s easy to nitpick his game. That’s what we do when it comes to players like Zion who are talked about nonstop for what seems like a few years. People root for someone like that to fail and point out he’s not a great 3-point shooter. He doesn’t have to be. Or if he gets beat defensively, which doesn’t happen often and happens to quite literally every person that plays.

Yes, his highlights overshadow his game because of the dunks and blocks. But, watch him pass. It’s arguably the most underrated part of his game. Part of what makes him great is body control with it. He can beat a guy off the dribble, draws help and can stop and kick without bowling people over. That’s a skill and wildly underrated when it comes to his game.

So stop saying he doesn’t have game. Watch him play with an unbiased view. The dude can play. There’s a reason he’s a top-3 prospect in the country.