NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans announced that Zion Williamson has been cleared for on-court activities and will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
Green was quick to point out that today’s news does not guarantee that Williamson will make his return to the court before the end of the regular season.
“I can’t confirm if he’ll be back or not, but we’ll see,” says New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green.
Green says that Williamson’s return to the court will be a slow, cautious approach since re-aggravating his hamstring last month.
He originally suffered the hamstring injury in a January 2nd loss against the Philadelphia 76ers. He has not played since.
“The biggest thing for us is, you know, injuries happen. How can we get guys safely back to the floor? Which is what we’re trying to do. Z has a bright future in the NBA and he’s a major part of what we’re doing here. We all want him back, but once again, we don’t want to try to rush guys and things like that where we’re putting people in danger. He wants to be on the floor, it’s just not in the cards at the moment. So we’ll see what happens at the end of the season,” says Green.
Green detailed the “on-court work” Williamson will be doing until the next re-evaluation in two weeks.
“Not a ton right at the moment. I’ve said it before, but because of the re-injury, we’re just taking a slower approach with his rehabilitation. He’ll get on the floor. He’s starting to move a bit, starting to do some running, doing some shooting, but we’re taking it kind of slow,” says Green
The Pelicans are 35-37, 12th in the western conference standings with 10 games left on the schedule. Their postseason push continues Thursday night at home against the Hornets.