22nd January - New Orleans Pelicans VS San Antonio Spurs - 17-27

[Pelicanidae]

There seem to be a lot more people here than usual for pregame workouts pic.twitter.com/EICadvQUGE

— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) January 23, 2020

Zion coming out for his warmups.

Fans stood up and clapped as he entered the court. pic.twitter.com/qTnUJsWfeg

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) January 23, 2020

The #Pelicans have credentialed 165 media members for the debut of @Zionwilliamson against the #Spurs tonight. It’s typically 20. #NBA

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) January 23, 2020

[AusPel]

The amount of pressure on him lol

[Pelicanidae]

The amount of pressure on him lol

He had Obama come see him while he was still playing at Duke I feel like he'll manage

[AusPel]

I feel like he will too

[ragincaucasian]

New face in tonight's starting five ��@ZO2_ @Jrue_Holiday11 @B_Ingram13 @Zionwilliamson @dfavors14 #WontBowDown pic.twitter.com/QVY0FpjFCZ

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 23, 2020

STARTING LINEUP ANNOUNCED.

This is what I have been waiting for. WHY ARE THEY STARTING THE DAMN GAME SO LATE??

[Pelicanidae]

This is what I have been waiting for. WHY ARE THEY STARTING THE DAMN GAME SO LATE??

Hooray for the 2:30am start

[Pelicanidae]

For all the people who wanted us to draft Ja:

Griff says the Pelicans tried to trade up to 2 and grab Ja Morant as well https://t.co/g0sSuZVVgO

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) January 23, 2020

[luckyman]

He had Obama come see him while he was still playing at Duke I feel like he'll manage

It'll never be easy for a 19 year old to manage this. He's got to have some very strong alpha males around to keep his mind right.

[Nola3]

For all the people who wanted us to draft Ja:

Griff says the Pelicans tried to trade up to 2 and grab Ja Morant as well https://t.co/g0sSuZVVgO

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) January 23, 2020

Why you gotta do it Dae?

[13 - 3]

[Pelicanidae]

It'll never be easy for a 19 year old to manage this. He's got to have some very strong alpha males around to keep his mind right.

Rather than buy into junk psychology ('alpha male' talk, etc), I'm just running with the fact that he was a huge, massive draw with unprecedented coverage in the media at college too, and he kept it together just fine. Obviously this is on the next level up, but I'm willing to believe in him, especially given how much time he's spent in an NBA environment before this, during his rehab.

[Pelicanidae]

Why you gotta do it Dae?

I can only report the truth there. It is my solemn duty.

[Pelicanidae]

Good pre-game stuff on the ESPN stream. Ingram being interviewed, he's saying he loves New Orleans and he loves how the fans have embraced him, and he enjoys playing here. Also says Zion's healthy, he's looking forward to him coming back, and he's coming back at the right time with the momentum in our favour.

[luckyman]

Rather than buy into junk psychology ('alpha male' talk, etc), I'm just running with the fact that he was a huge, massive draw with unprecedented coverage in the media at college too, and he kept it together just fine. Obviously this is on the next level up, but I'm willing to believe in him, especially given how much time he's spent in an NBA environment before this, during his rehab.

Sure. There is nothing junk about alpha personalities and beta ones. Especially among highly social animals like humans.

So that said, I pray he has the right people around him. He is a teenage rock star at the highest level. This is insane whats going on tonight. Thats not easy to deal with I dont care who you are. We all have egos.

And college life is a lot more structured. He has plenty of free time now to bathe in it all.

[msusousaphone]

Memphis is getting rocked.

All the teams vying for that 8th spot will start tanking after we mark our territory, tonight.



As in playoffs being our territory.....not just the 8th spot....lol

[kinglio21093]

I CAN HARDLY CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT

[Pelicanidae]

And college life is a lot more structured. He has plenty of free time now to bathe in it all.

It's true that college life is more structured, but you have to remember that Zion's been with the team the majority of the time and he's been going through intense rehab. As he's described on the Redick pod, his schedule has been pretty intensely team-managed, due to the frequency of his rehab; he's barely gone out to dinner with the team. So while it's true that he's had more free time and independence than he had at college, he's probably still had a lot less than most rookie NBA stars, which should help.

[Creative]

All eyes on Z ��@Zionwilliamson | #WontBowDown pic.twitter.com/8sRVZcEGkh

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 23, 2020

He is looking ready to dance

[Pelicanidae]

Zion with some pregame jams ahead of his NBA Debut in New Orleans!

��: @spurs/@PelicansNBA
⏰: 9:30pm/et
��: ESPN pic.twitter.com/yafxlJubcA

— NBA (@NBA) January 23, 2020

A couple of pre-game dunks by Zion.

Really hard to put it into words, but there's just something about his movement that's so impressive. Looks completely effortless getting up there, almost like he just glides rather than bounces. It's weird.

Also, I'm liking his landing mechanics here. He had decent landing mechanics coming into the NBA anyway, but they're looking pretty much great here.

[msusousaphone]

Page 3 and the game ain't even started.

[Pelicanidae]

Pels just announced JJ Redick will be available tonight.

Pels about as close to a healthy roster as they've been all season.

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) January 23, 2020

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean that outside of Jah and Kenrich, the team is completely a-go?

[kinglio21093]

Watch this Philly/Toronto game go into OT

[Creative]

Zion debut is HUGE but We need to stay focus and win this game.

[Pelicanidae]

I'm so hype it's absurd

[kinglio21093]

High key wish I could listen to Joel and Antonio instead.