Dissecting Zion Williamson's debut & contender check-in
Open Floor: SI's NBA Show
SI NBA
4.5 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 24 January 2020
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On today's episode, Ben Golliver and Michael Pina tackle all angles of Zion Williamson's electrifying debut for the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. Ben provides some on-scene highlights, then they grade Williamson's performance and reminisce about his 17-point fourth-quarter explosion. From there, they discuss the Pelicans' strict interpretation of Williamson's minutes limit, the fact that the game was somehow not sold out, and the current state of Williamson's health. To close, Ben and Michael pivot to a contender check-in on the Bucks and Rockets. Is Milwaukee actually misunderstood and underrated? Is Giannis Inc. itself guilty of underrating their 2020 title chances? Can Houston salvage its season? Does Tilman Fertitta need to step up and swing big at the deadline?
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | What's up, Openfloreklo? |
| 0:03.9 | This has been Galver with The Washington Post. |
| 0:06.1 | I am joined on the other line by Michael Pena of Espination. |
| 0:11.6 | Michael, Michael, Michael. |
| 0:13.0 | Welcome to Zion, Palluza. |
| 0:15.3 | We are recording this on Thursday, not even 24 hours after Zion, Williamson, made his |
| 0:21.7 | much anticipated debut for the New Orleans Pelicans. |
| 0:25.6 | We are basically missing three months following surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his right |
| 0:31.3 | knee. |
| 0:32.3 | Now, Zion did not completely shut the world down, but he had an incredible fourth quarter |
| 0:39.4 | stretch that helped him finish with 22 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. |
| 0:44.4 | He did have five turnovers on 8 of 11 shooting in 18 minutes. |
| 0:50.0 | The biggest surprise of all, of course, he went four for four from behind the three point |
| 0:54.3 | line. |
| 0:55.3 | That, you know, almost like Jordan Esk Shrug type, it performance, you know, out of nowhere, |
| 1:02.0 | brought down MVP chance from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, the home crowd just |
| 1:07.7 | eating it up and realizing they finally got to see a flash of what they were all so excited |
| 1:12.9 | about when they won the rights to the lottery, number one pick last year, and then obviously |
| 1:17.5 | when they selected him in June. |
| 1:19.3 | Joe Michael, it was, I think, must see TV. |
| 1:22.5 | It was a very slow start from Zion passive throughout really the first three quarters. |
| 1:27.4 | He turned it on there in the fourth quarter with that electric stretch that I'm describing, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from SI NBA, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of SI NBA and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.