Pelicans Removed Zion Williamson From Marketing Materials

The situation with Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans got even stranger this week. While we brought you Zion's former teammate JJ Redick calling him out for "insane" behavior, it's also been reported that Williamson is NOT among the players featured on next season's ticket-holder package. 

The Pelicans sent out marketing materials this week, writes Scott Kushner of NOLA.com, and the players featured are Brandon Ingram, Jonas Valanciunas, and newly-acquired CJ McCollum. No sign of Zion. 

"Intentionally or not, it sent a message," says Kushner. "For the first time, the Pelicans don't want to be in the business of marketing Zion, because the franchise is no longer certain he'll be on the floor."

Kushner says they're afraid of "false advertising" as Williamson has only been on the floor for 85 out of 203 possible games in his three seasons as a Pelican.

He says this doesn't necessarily mean that Williamson is on the trade block, but it's hard to fathom any other scenario where a team doesn't feature its supposed superstar in season-ticket materials. Injuries or not. And it's left Pelicans observers frustrated and confused.

Zion Williamson deserves to be held to the fire publicly. I usually always side with the athlete but he hasn’t even given New Orleans or the Pelicans a chance. It’s unprofessional.

— 500 🏎 (@Kameron_Hay) February 22, 2022

Zion is surrounded in mystery 

William Guillory of The Athletic says Zion's silence always leaves him surrounded in "mystery", which led to the bombshell report that he had not even sent a text to reach out to new teammate CJ McCollum for over two weeks after his trade to the Big Easy, leading to former Pelican Redick's tirade. McCollum says Zion has since contacted him this week.

As Guillory writes, it'll take more than words for the 21-year-old to fix this. "If Williamson wants to repair this situation — or just his image in general — his actions have to start backing up his words. "

Photo Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports