Zion Williamson's 'back seat' comments hint at bigger problems he and the Pelicans must solve (2024)

Whenever Zion Williamson speaks, the entire New Orleans Pelicans organization listens.

His game speaks volumes when he’s playing at his best, but Williamson and the rest of the franchise know how powerful his words can be, whether they’re delivered in a positive or negative tone. And considering the franchise’s ugly history of retaining young superstars, Williamson’s words tend to reverberate most during times of turmoil. Both sides have lived it repeatedly over the last few seasons.

Now, the Pelicans are embroiled in another controversy surrounding Williamson’s words after the star forward had this to say following his team’s fifth straight defeat, a 136-124 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

“Last year, we had a team meeting and we brought up some things I can do better, especially with buying into the program,” Williamson said. “Right now, it’s tough. I’m taking a little bit of a back seat right now. I’m trusting the process. I’m trying my best to buy in right now.”

There were a few lines that came straight from the “Unhappy Superstar” playbook.

“It’s tough” and “I’m trusting the process” are phrases heard from players stuck in a rut and struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s understandable to feel that way on a team that’s lost five consecutive games after a 4-1 start with four of those losses coming by double digits. “I’m trying my best to buy in” is another phrase that can scare fans. It indicates a certain level of frustration that needs to be dealt with adequately.

But the phrase that grabbed some national attention was one many thought they’d never hear from Williamson: “I’m taking a little bit of a back seat right now.”

When asked if it’s been tough for him to accept a different role this season, Williamson responded, “I’m just trying to be a team player and buy into it. It’s tough right now, but I think we’re going to figure it out.”

It’s tough to pinpoint what was more revealing about Williamson’s comments: The exasperation in his voice when he delivered them, or the fact that … he hasn’t taken a back seat in the offense this season.

Any coach in their right mind would make sure a dude who averages 25 points while shooting 60 percent from the field when he plays will be featured heavily in the offense. Since his rookie season, Williamson’s usage rate has been among the highest for any high-volume scorer in the league. That includes his 30.6 percent usage rate this season, a career-high. Williamson’s also averaging 19.1 field-goal attempts per 36 minutes, which would be his highest number since his rookie season.

The way he’s been used within Pelicans coach Willie Green’s revamped offense may be slightly different than last season, but most of the numbers indicate that Williamson has gone about his business in the same way.

After averaging 16.2 drives per game in 2022-23, he’s at 16.5 this season. He averaged 4.1 post-ups per game last season. Now, he’s at 2.9 this season, a slight, but not overwhelming drop.

The issue for the Pelicans this season hasn’t been the way they’ve used their stars. It’s how effective those stars have been.

“It’s a long season, but it starts with our main guys. We’ve got to get up and down the floor faster,” Green said. “We’ve got to get some easy baskets, especially with guys being out.”

In the first three seasons of Williamson’s career, he shot an absurd 60.5 percent from the field. So far, his shooting percentage has plummeted to 51.5 percent in 2023-24. Last season, he shot 58.3 percent on his drives to the basket, per NBA.com. This season, that number has dropped to 41.7 percent. The only players with at least 100 drives who are shooting a worse percentage this season are Julius Randle, Trae Young, Jalen Brunson and Jimmy Butler.

Williamson still gets into the paint at a ridiculously high rate, but he’s making fewer shots than in the past. Per Basketball Reference, He has made just 47 percent of his shots from between 0-3 feet away from the basket. Last season, that number was at 61.8 percent.

Williamson is not the only Pelicans star underperforming. For the most part, Brandon Ingram also has been a shell of himself through the first 10 games. His scoring average is down two points from last season (24.7 to 22.6). He’s shooting 21.2 percent on 3-pointers and he’s averaging just 4.1 free-throw attempts per game, his lowest tally since his rookie season.

With CJ McCollum sidelined indefinitely due to a small pneumothorax in his right lung, there’s no way for Ingram and Williamson to avoid their poor performances with much more pressure on their shoulders. Per Cleaning The Glass, the Pelicans have been outscored by 9.1 points per 100 possessions when Zion and Ingram share the floor. That’s a remarkably low number for two players who are supposed to be so essential to the franchise.

It’s not as if the team has performed better when one has gone to the bench and allowed the other to seize control, either. According to Cleaning The Glass, when Williamson is in and Ingram is on the bench, the Pels are getting outscored by 12.9 points per 100 possessions. When Ingram plays and Williamson sits, the Pels’ net rating nosedives to minus-25.2. It’s still early in the season, so those numbers can shift drastically with a couple of games of improved play. But it’s a massive disappointment that the most talented players on the Pelicans roster have dragged the team down during this rocky start to the season.

“We have to be better. I don’t know how many times I’ve got to get up here and say it,” Green said after Sunday’s loss. “We’ve got to play with more of a sense of urgency.”

In light of those issues, Williamson’s comments after Sunday’s loss show there is more to this situation than just a couple of star players in an early-season slump. The numbers are one thing. The more important revelation is that Williamson is willing to express his discomfort with his role in the offense. He hinted at that sentiment after a gut-wrenching loss to the Houston Rockets last Friday:

“How much the ball is in my hands, for sure,” Willamson said when asked about the biggest difference in this year’s offense. “Last year, I was able to facilitate a lot more. This year, it’s kind of like taking a back seat a little bit and letting everybody else get in their rhythm.”

I doubt the use of “back seat” on two separate nights was an accident.

Even if Williamson isn’t playing as well as he has in the past, he shouldn’t be taking a back seat to anybody. The Pelicans’ only hope of achieving their goals as a franchise is to make sure Williamson reaches his full potential as a superstar. There are bound to be some bumps in the road as the two sides figure out what the path to that destination looks like.

But Williamson venting his frustrations in this public way puts everyone in an awkward position. Dealing with a five-game losing streak and seemingly endless injury issues is stressful enough for Green, but throwing this quote into the mix only makes his job more difficult. The biggest question: To what degree was Williamson an active participant in shifting the attention over the offense’s failures to his head coach?

Regardless, the pressure on Green will only rise whenever he speaks about the team’s offense or if Williamson still isn’t featured as much on the floor. Those tired of watching him take a “back seat” can turn to Green as an easy target for their frustrations. The noise will almost certainly force the Pels to make sure the ball is in Williamson’s hands more often to quiet those complaints, even if he continues to be less efficient than his past self with those additional touches.

Considering the latter scenario, there will be intense pressure on Williamson to produce within the cloud of controversy his comments brought to his team. This isn’t the first time he has said something to raise alarm bells about his time with the franchise. But it is one of the first times his words have been directly connected to how he’s featured within the offense.

We’ve learned on countless occasions in the NBA that when a star player even alludes to being upset, the burden falls on the head coach to mend that fence with the face of the franchise and make sure there aren’t any divisive forces growing within the locker room. Green’s credibility in New Orleans has been directly tied to the connection he forged early on with Ingram. Now, his next big challenge has fallen right on his doorstep.

It’s time for Green to do everything in his power to get through to Williamson and make sure both parties understand what the offense needs to look like and how Williamson can best be featured. If Williamson keeps making comments about the team that goes viral on social media, the spotlight on Green will only shine brighter. And if losses keep stacking up, the patience for Green’s growing pains with this group will wear thin.

As we’ve learned in the past few days, all it takes is one quote from the right person to shake up the entire room.

(Top photo: Bart Young / NBAE via Getty Images)

Will Guillory is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New Orleans Pelicans. Before joining The Athletic, he was a writer at The Times-Picayune/NOLA Media Group, and he's been on the Pelicans beat since 2016. He is a New Orleans native. Follow William on Twitter @WillGuillory