I am so super-duper tempted to put “1 Three” in the title of this video. It had been a long time since Zion made one, I was definitely thinking that the four long-bombs we saw in his debut were going to be it for his entire career. People have to know about this, although it’s likely that everyone who cares about basketball at all has seen the question, so maybe getting the word out isn’t the most important thing right now.
Because this wasn’t a normal three. This was an ANKLE-BREAKER three. The threat of Zion’s drive is so strong, apparently, that all he needs to do is give a huge ball fake while standing totally still and the defender will start literally running that direction, giving up the wide open look before feebly trying to recover with ankles turned into a fine powder. This move might not work if the defender isn’t named Alen Smailagic, who is maybe the rawest (and most overeager) player to ever come into the NBA, but it was definitely a different kind of highlight player than we’re used to from Williamson.
Since there’s no way that anyone has read this far in this description (because why would you even waste your time with boring words when there’s a sweet Williamson highlight reel waiting for you), so I can say this without fear of retribution: is anyone else kinda concerned about the lack of lift Williamson is getting on some of these dunks? The way he was dunking in high school, there was no doubt about those things. But I’ve already seen it a few times this year where he barely gets enough spring to barely guide the ball in with a weak slam. Damn injuries.