Landon Buford
Last Month, high school and college Phenom Zion Williamson officially declared for this year’s NBA draft via his Instagram account.
Zion began his post by thanking God and Blue Devil Nation, which included Coach K, the assistant coaches, family, teammates, and all the friends he made at Duke.
“Thank you for making this the best year of my life. I don’t think I can put it into words on how special this year was, the brotherhood is incredible. Just being out there in Cameron everything about this team was special and learning from Coach K was special. He taught me so much about the game of basketball in one year that made me sit back go “WOW“, I didn’t know anything, and I want to thank my mom,“ Williamson.
He would continue:
“My mom has been there from day one she has taught everything without her I wouldn’t be in this situation. She has sacrificed so much for me to be here I just want to say I love you, mom. Growing up as a kid in Florence, South Carolina, I never thought I would have the opportunity to play at Duke or play for Coach K. Let alone getting drafted, so I will pursue my next dream and declare for the 2019 NBA Draft. Thank you, Duke, this is the best year of my life.“
This may be the last time that someone of Zion caliber comes through Duke, and that is saying a lot with all the players such as Grant Hill, Jay Williams, Jayson Tatum, RJ Barrett, who have all played at Duke. Don’t take my word just ask Coach K.
“Just, I think, one of the more unique basketball players that I’ve had a chance to coach, and the best athlete that I’ve had a chance to coach at Duke,” Krzyzewski shared with reporters back in October right before the beginning of the season at the ACC Operation Basketball.
Back then all the highlights that were shown on YouTube and other news platforms were or Williamson dunking the ball over fans like Drake and even had KD breaking down his highlight tape.
In a recent episode of The Shop on HBO, LeBron James spoke about the next Phenom that will be drafted into the NBA this summer. It only fitting because the last person to come close to the hype Williamson is getting was LeBron coming out of high school. James would go on to win multiple awards, including three championships.
“Every possession, it seemed like he could make a difference on the outcome of the game.” – @KingJames on @ZionW32. #TheShopHBO: @uninterrupted pic.twitter.com/OELUWhZMDz
— HBO (@HBO) May 5, 2019
“I’ve watched him a lot over the last year,” James said. “Obviously I was with everybody, you know, him coming out of high school—I was like, OK, all this competition that he’s playing against, these little short-ass white kids he’s dunking over every single time, can he play? Can he play ball? The one thing that I noticed with his one year at Duke, that his energy was infectious. Every possession it seemed like he could make a difference on the outcome of the game.”
