JJ Redick Lashes Out At Former Teammate Zion Williamson For Poor Leadership

After the Pelicans traded for Trail Blazers guard, CJ McCollum last week, the veteran let it slip that he never heard from Zion Williamson following the move.

“I haven’t had conversations with him directly,” McCollum said. “I’ve spoken with some people close to him, and I look forward to sitting down with him sooner than later. I know about as much as you do right now, but I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.”

During “First Take” on Tuesday morning, Zion Williamson’s former Pelicans teammate, JJ Redick, blasted the star center for his complete lack of leadership qualities since he was drafted first overall by New Orleans.

“This just shows a complete lack of investment in your team, the organization, the city,” Redick said. “I get that he’s hurt and away from the team, but you just traded for one of the 50 best players in the league, a guy that’s supposed to be paired with you. Reach out and say hello. This is a pattern of behavior with Zion that we’re seeing again and again.”

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JJ Redick rips Zion apart calling him a “detached teammate”. #WBD
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— George Hathaway (@hathawaygeorge9) February 22, 2022

JJ Redick has clearly seen first-hand how little Zion Williamson puts into his preparation on and off the court. And if he’s saying these things, it’s safe to assume the Pelicans are also concerned about their franchise cornerstone.

One would imagine that the idea of the CJ McCollum trade was to add a dynamic floor-spacer to pair with Williamson. But after it was announced that Zion suffered another setback to his foot injury, it’s fair to question if we’ll ever even see that pairing come to fruition.

For now, McCollum and Zion Williamson are technically teammates. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ever going to interact.

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