Zion Williamson on the JJ Redick Podcast!

The pod is mostly just JJ and his co-host Tommy, and they talk about a lot of things: the food in Mexico City, the similarities between the Pelicans and JJ's first year in Philadelphia (JJ is quick to point out that in his first year with the Sixers, they were something like 14-18 going into the Christmas day game and went on to win 52 games that year, so with us being so close to the 8th seed, nothing is impossible), so the Zion content is reserved mostly until after the ad break.

Zion appears at 38:45 into the pod, and my transcript goes from there. Remember, some of the questions will be paraphrased to cut out verbal tics, repetition, etc, to make it easier to read but all actual answers are given in pretty much exact original form.

JJ: So this is the first podcast you've ever done?

Zion: The first one.

JJ: I feel like this is almost a rookie duty that you're fulfilling for me, like the vet asking the rookie to do something. That's you coming on my pod. What have I done? I feel like I haven't asked you to do anything, right?

Zion: I think we have the easiest rookie duties out of the entire league.

Tommy: What's he [JJ] like as a teammate?

Zion: Great question, I think it depends on what situation you're asking... off the court you can learn a lot from him - I'm not BSing any answers - through his 13, 14 now [?] years of experience and on the court you can see that he's been with great teams and he knows what it takes to win. I think the first serious moment I had with JJ was first time in the locker room that it was just me and him and he was like ''I'm 13 for 13... don't f**k this up for me''.

[They talk a bit about Duke stories, about Coach K, stuff like that]

JJ: Going back to the rookie stuff, I feel like we as a team haven't done anything ridiculous. There's been no popcorn in anyone's cars, nobody's wearing pink Hello Kitty bookbags, what is the one thing that me and the commission of vets, that we said has to be done?

Zion: I think the one thing y'all said was that the rookies have to bring Chik-fil-A to the plane.

JJ: Rookies have to bring Chik-fil-A onto the plane. I was very specific about the rules about Chik-fil-A. It's only expected to be on the plane on a fly-out day, either when we have practice or when we're leaving New Orleans. Meet at the plane, 2 o'clock, practice, whatever. What happened today? What happened today?

Zion: You know, I asked the same question, as soon as I walked onto the plane I think I was the last person there, everyone else was already there and I didn't see any Chik-fil-A. And I start looking at where all the rookies sit and I'm like alright, there goes Melli, there's Jaxson, there's Nickeil... oh man... there's no Chik-fil-A... so I'm like okay, I'm just going to sit on the side, try to play it off and see if anybody notices and then there's JJ like 'you know what, let's see when they get those per diems'...

JJ: The per diems had already been passed out by the time that I found out there was no Chik-fil-A but the next trip, the next week, I think everybody's per diem for the trip is like $650, you multiple that by 4 that's $2600, that's about a technical foul. So I feel like that's a fair fine. For this time. Missing the Chik-fil-A.

[Personal stuff]

JJ: How would you describe yourself, off the court?

Zion: I think I'm a goofy character, who likes to have a lot of fun. But I think I'm more mature than I act, for my age.

Tommy: Do you think part of that is because you were thrown into the spotlight at such a young age?

Zion: I think that is a big reason why, and then I think my parents just prepared me for the NBA. It is a dream come true but you have to understand that it's a cut-throat league, you don't know what could happen.

Tommy: Were you a sophomore when your clips started going crazy?

Zion: I was a junior.

JJ: I was gonna ask, was there a moment, likke I grew up where there was Bob Gibbons and rankings and maybe if you were really good you'd maybe make the McDonalds game but there was no Instagram, but was there a single moment or a clip where you thought ''oh I'm a big deal''?

Zion: Uh, I'm gonna say my junior year I'm in this small gym in Colombia, you know one of those church gyms and I scored 47 points but nobody cared aobut that part. It was the three or four nasty dunks that I did, that like Overtime, Ballislife, the mixtapes, Famous Los, they got their hands on it and I went from this #12 from Spartanburg to this 16 year old who looks like a grown man.

Tommy: Did you know right when you got off the court that this was happening or did you find out after the fact?

Zion: Uh, I think my friends and people around me got more hype for me, they were like ''Dude, I was watching...'' I mean like, my junior year I started off with about 3000 followers and as the season would go on kids would look at my Instagram and be like, dude you picked up 6000 followers in this one class period, and they'd tally how many I'd pick up, and I'd be like 'alright man, it's just Instagram. Relax.''

Tommy: How do you get to be like ''oh it's just instagram'' when with so many kids it would just get to them in some way?

Zion: Honestly I think it's just social media, people allow social media to dictate their opinions more than they should and I'm just playing a game I love. I know people say it's a corny answer, it's cheesy, but as long as I get to do that, it's fine.

JJ: I remember when these clips started going viral, Zion did this tonight, I remember thinking to myself, that's great but can this guy actually play? And then you committed to Duke and I was like okay he's probably pretty good if he committed to Duke [everyone laughs] but do you feel like, Vince Carter used to talk about this, you're known for a singular athletic feat - 'the dunk' - but there's so much more to you as a player, does that bother you?

Zion: It's funny you say that, it actually did bother me a little bit, I was like 'Jesus Christ, I can do something other than... I can get to the rim somehow!'' but that's part of why I went to Duke. Coach K came to me and he saw everything but the dunks. He saw every other part of my game that I wanted to work on and that meant something to me. I said I wanted to play for a coach who actually knows my game and knows the value I bring to it, and that meant a lot to me because the whole dunking thing, I mean, I'm not getting 50 points off straight dunks. It just can't happen.

JJ: Did you grow up a Duke fan?

Zion: I wouldn't say that, I was never really like a fan of no team, but I did grow up watching you, Scheyer, and it's crazy, I was looking at Nickeil and saying ''you realise, I did half of what JJ did, but he just did it beyond the arc. I did it with layups and dunks but he did it all with 3s.''

Tommy: You played AAU with Ja Morant?

Zion: Yeah I played with Ja when we were nobodies. My freshman year, summer, and his sophomore summer. Me and Ja, we were like the roleplayers.

JJ: I'm sorry, what? Who were the stars?! You were the number 1 and 2 picks in the draft!

Zion: We were the roleplayers, what people don't know is that, it's a dude that goes to Ole Miss now, Devontae Shuler, in South Carolina he was the guy. I remember when I used to play with him and I used to watch him like 'Man!''. He'd go coast to coast, transition finishing, pulling up for 3 like he's Curry, and I was like 'I'm just a 9th grader, nobody knows who I am' and he was top 30 in the nation. Certified bucket. And me and Ja look at each other sometimes like wow, we came a long way.

Tommy: Obviously you haven't played yet this year but what are the biggest differences in preparation between high school and Duke and then Duke to the NBA?

Zion: The biggest transition from high school to Duke was obviously the amount of talent I was surrounded by, uh, you know in high school if you have a guy you can't be threatened to be put on the bench. It's just not going to happen. Then I get to Duke where RJ and Cam are ranked in front of me and I'm looking at these dudes like wow, they are elite! I'm looking at Cam like wow, you're Tracy McGrady, Penny Hardaway, Cam is so cold and RJ was just like the dog, this dude, and other players like Trae, Jack, Jav, and when you play for Coach K your role can change from high school to college but he can make it so that somebody off the bench that nobody knows about can take your spot, and that makes you stay ready.

JJ: Did he ever bench you?

Zion: Mine was during the summer, when we were at summer workouts, we were at summer practice with Duke and he has the white team and the blue team and I was always with the white team and then it was like a week's span where he'd say ''Okay Z you're on the blue team'', and nothing against those guys but I was like wow, I'm on the second team?! But he did it for a reason, he plays mind games so well that he said ''I just wanted to bring the beast out in you''. He felt like I was holding back because I had other stars around me and him putting me on the blue team made me come out of my shell and attack those guys and make them feel my presence on the court.

JJ: Any coach telling you to switch your practice jersey colour is literally the greatest mind-f*** ever. If you're on the 2nd team and you get switched the 1st you're like oh, did I do something right? And vice versa you're thinking oh, did I get demoted? Sometimes they just wanna see a line-up combination, that's all they wanna see.

Anyway, how has the daily preparation been as a pro? Because obviously that's a lot different in HS, college, this is your only thing you do now, this is your job.

Zion: The preparation is completely different. In college, it's organised, everyone do this at this time, now you're in a situation where you get what you put into it. Some guys, you watch JJ go in the weight room and stretch for 20 minutes and get activated and other guys can just sit until game time and say okay let's go play. Everyone has to find what they need to know about their body and everyone's preparation is different and now you're a pro and you're held accountable.

JJ: There's an autonomy that happens, whether it happens your rookie year, you sort of take ownership of that part of your job where you say no, this is what I'm going to put into it every day regardless of what the result is and I'm going to live with the result of that.

Tommy: What's a normal road trip look like for you?

Zion: It's crazy, rehab is harder than practice. For me, normal roadtrip, I'll come in for practice and get in like an hour early, get stretched and activated and then I'll go do player development and then watch film. Today was my first day of practice and before that I'd just watch and they'd walk through stuff and get up some jumpers. We'd get on the plane, everyone's like ''alright we'll go to dinner, we'll go do this'', and I'd be like oh yeah sure I'll join and then Trajan or the development staff will be like ''oh come on Z, we've got some work to do!''. Like, I had some movement work or I'll get a lift in, or have to go to the arena later and it's been time consuming like my teammates will ask me if I wanna go to dinner later and I'll be like, ''I wanna say yeah, but I won't because we might get off the plane later and somebody might say Z, we gotta go do this.''

Tommy: Have you had the chance to really enjoy New Orleans?

Zion: New Orleans? It's my kind of city. I think there's a lot going on but it's also very calm. A place where I can actually drive a car without being stuck in traffic for 50 minutes. It's my kind of city, a lot going on but still calm.

Tommy: Was it the Carolina game that Obama was at where you got hurt?

Zion: Yeah.

Tommy: That's crazy, just a crazy amount of hype, but one of the things I was thinking about was that you became this flagpole for people criticising the NCAA, like why isn't he getting paid, and you're just playing. When that kind of thing happens are you paying attention?

Zion: My headspace was kind of just to ignore it. I'm there, there's nothing I can do to change that immediately, maybe now I can voice something and eventually it'll change but there's nothing I can do except just play the game I love at the school I love.

JJ: Was there anything though about shutting it down after that?

Zion: [in a scandalised tone of voice] No! I wanna go try and win a National Championship and the bond I built with those guys was incredible and I, as a person, would have felt selfish if I couldn't do that for my teammates, I can't let those guys down like that. I told them from the moment it happened, I'm coming back.

JJ: Were you actually considering going back for your Sophomore year? Nobody's done that other than maybe Duncan in the last 25 years, just been the #1 pick and been like 'nah, I'm gonna go back'. How long were you considering going back?

Zion: It was like, the deadline, when you had to declare. Me, I wanted to go back. Nobody ever believes me, but I genuinely wanted to go back, I felt like the NBA wasn't going to go anywhere, and yes there's the money thing but I don't play this game for money I play because I love the game and I loved my experience at Duke that much and I wanted to stay. But it was one of those situations, Coach K wasn't gonna let me come back because he wanted me to do what's best for me and my teammates were telling me it would be dope if I went back but I'd be leaving too much on the table, I didn't work this long to do that. It was tough. I think it was my mom, she said she'd support me no matter what. So I said I was going back. Her and my stepdad talked about it and they said ''you worked too hard for this, you'd feel bad if you left it'', so I said yeah... I worked for this since I was 4 or 5...

Tommy: Who have you been impressed watching this year?

Zion: I'd say E'twaun Moore. The first time I met E'twaun was through our player development coach, he said when you come into training camp there's going to be this guy called E'twaun, nobody knows him, a lot of people don't know he can hoop, he's a bucket. And I was like okay, I can't wait to meet E'twaun, and training camp came along and that happened. He's impressed me, not only on court but off-court, he's had a span where he didn't touch the floor for 2 or 3 games and he was never bothered. He said ''I know my role and when the team needs me, I'm ready.'' He stays ready. That's the ultimate goal, and that's why he has the impact he has, he knows his role and what he can bring to the table.

JJ: Yeah he's a pros pro, and he is a professional bucket getter, for sure. So, uh, we wanna be respectful of your time so my last question to you is just mentally, what has been the biggest challenge over the last 8 to 10 weeks as you're doing your recovery?

Zion: Just the challenge of rehab. You know how tough it is, for hours, people watching you, how you land, how you bend when you do this motion, over and over, make sure the knee doesn't cave, make sure it stays out, make sure it's above the third toe, make sure you're straight, land like this. Even when I get on the court, when you hear it for so long it does bother you, but with the Pelicans I have these people around me saying it's going to pay off and there's a reason I'm doing it, I'm going to come back even better, and I do feel that. I feel a lot better.

TRANSCRIPT OVER :hihi: