By Lee Strawther
The Sporting Tribune
The John R. Wooden Award will celebrate it’s 50th anniversary this season. Leading up to the award ceremony on April 10, 2026, The Sporting Tribune in partnership with the Wooden Award and the Los Angeles Athletic Club will highlight past winners of the Wooden Award and the Legends of Coaching Award.
When it comes to dunking, what do you get when you blend the athleticism of Vince Carter, the strength of Charles Barkley, and the power of Dominique Wilkins? My answer… Zion Williamson.
Zion Lateef Williamson was born July 6, 2000 in Salisbury, North Carolina and was named, by his mother, after the biblical location Mount Zion near Jerusalem, taking her grandmother’s advice to name him “something extra special.”
At the age of two his family moved to Florence, South Carolina where he grew up playing soccer and football, as well as basketball. By the age of five, however, he was already setting his sights on becoming a basketball star.
Williamson attended Spartanburg Day School, a small K-12 private school in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he played basketball for the Griffins. He eventually became a consensus five-star recruit and was ranked among the top five players in the class of 2018.
Known for his thunderous slam dunks Williamson led his team to three straight state championships and earned South Carolina Mr. Basketball recognition his senior season. He also left high school as a McDonald’s All-American, runner-up for Mr. Basketball USA, and a USA Today All-USA First Team honoree.
At 6-6, 265, Williamson averaged 36.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game during his final prep season.
Wofford University offered Williamson his first college basketball scholarship when he was a freshman in high school, and by the end of his sophomore season he had received offers from 16 NCAA Division I programs, including Clemson, Florida, and South Carolina, with Duke adding its name to the growing list in the summer of 2016.
In January 2018, during a live ESPN telecast, Williamson committed to the Blue Devils, explaining his decision by stating, “Duke stood out because the brotherhood represents a family. (Mike Krzyzewski) is just the most legendary coach that ever coached college basketball. I feel like going to Duke University, I can learn a lot from him.”
In 33 freshman appearances Williamson averaged 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. He shot 68% from the field, which led the ACC and ranked second in the NCAA Division I, and was the highest-ever field goal percentage by a freshman.
After just one spectacular season with the Blue Devils, Williamson declared for the 2019 NBA draft and was taken by the New Orleans Pelicans with the first overall pick. That July he signed a five-year, $75 million endorsement deal with Jordan brand, the second-largest rookie shoe deal in history, trailing only LeBron James’s $90 million rookie deal signed in 2003.
Unfortunately, he tore his meniscus in October 2019 during a preseason game, which postponed his professional debut until January 2020.
Williamson finished his rookie year averaging 22.5 points on 58.3 percent shooting from the floor, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. He ranked first among all rookies in points per game, second in rebounds per game and first in offensive rebounds per game, and became the first rookie since Michael Jordan to post sixteen 20-point games within their first 20 contests while also logging the highest scoring average through his first 24 career NBA games since Jordan in 1983. By season’s end he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
The 2021–22 season, however, was one of injury and unavailability. During the off-season Williamson suffered a Jones fracture in his right foot which required surgery, and team officials were hopeful that he would be ready to return by the start of the season. But by mid-October, the timeline for his return was extended until December, then approximately around the all-star break. Needless to say, by mid-March, it was announced that he would not return at all that season.
Williamson was again sidelined in January 2023 with a hamstring injury that resulted in him missing the remainder of that season and his NBA postseason debut was also cut short by an injury in the final minutes of a game versus the Los Angeles Lakers in 2024.
Though Williamson was healthy to begin the 2024-25 campaign, he sustained an early season left hamstring strain which caused him to miss 27 games. He returned in January 2025 only to sustain a bone contusion in his lower back in March, ending his season at just 30 games played.
Still with the Pelicans, Williamson is listed at 6-6, 284 pounds, but despite his stature for a basketball player he will always be remembered for his speed, strength and leaping ability.
“My body is just built different. Some people try to look at it as a weakness, but I look at it as a blessing.”
Off the court Williamson was one of a handful of players who pledged to pay the salaries of all the employees of the Smoothie King Center for 30 days during the suspension of the 2019–20 NBA season, which was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.