Dumars' message to Williamson has been simple: "To be great, you have to be obsessed with this," he told Williamson. "You can't casually become great in this league. What I've seen from him this summer is he's obsessed with the work he's putting in. And that is really encouraging for me that he's putting this type of work in."
Dumars' message to Williamson has been simple: "To be great, you have to be obsessed with this," he told Williamson. "You can't casually become great in this league. What I've seen from him this summer is he's obsessed with the work he's putting in. And that is really encouraging for me that he's putting this type of work in." — 8/10/2026 New Orleans Times-Picayune
"You're sitting next to Zion there, you guys are the veteran leaders now of this group. How do you feel like you can lead the two of you this Pelicans squad this year?" Dejounte Murray: "You got to lead by example. You got to be on time, you got to be the ultimate pro, put your work in day in, day out, take care of your body. Those unseen hours, when you're in your hotel room, when you're on the recovery table, you got to take care of yourself so we're available. The best ability is availability, and I understand that. Hopefully Zion understand that. He's doing really great, I think he feels the same way of just being healthy and being with whoever he's working with and just trying to be consistent and put the work in. We're going to need everybody, it's not about one, two, or three guys, you're going to need the whole organization." — 7/10/2026 YouTube
Will Guillory: Zion Williamson, Jordan Poole, Yves Missi, Herb Jones, Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen and DeAndre Jordan are among the Pelican players in attendance for today's game — 7/9/2026 x.com
Kevin Garnett on Victor Wembanyama: One thing I want to speak on is just Wemby's development. If I'm him, I'm working on core strength because when… Paul will tell you, I'm not the biggest guy, right? But he'll tell you when I sit down and post up, can you move me? Paul Pierce: No, he's strong. Garnett: I'm probably one of the strongest people you could ever run up on and look like how I look, but when it came down there to setting up on that block and then pitching and getting it off down there, yeah, I was the best at that. I would love to work with Big Fella, but this generation has a preference on how they want to work out. And I have to respect that. But yeah, I'm open to all… Listen, I'm looking for big years from not just Wemby. I'm looking for big years from Chet Holmgren. I'm looking for a big summer from Zion Williamson. I'm looking for a big summer from Kyrie Irving. I'm looking for Jayson Tatum to have a big summer. — 6/20/2026 YouTube
The dream of a decade-plus of production for a franchise cornerstone also doesn't materialize very often. On average, top-five picks from 2000 through 2019 lasted 5.1 seasons with their original team, with 56% lasting until their fifth year (and their second contract) and 44% leaving before then. Only 6% played at least 10 seasons with their initial team. (Tatum will bump that figure to 7% next season.) And for now, only five of the 100 top-five picks in that period are still with the team that drafted them: Tatum and Brown in Boston, Joel Embiid in Philadelphia, Zion Williamson in New Orleans and Ja Morant in Memphis. — 5/27/2026 ESPN
Ohm Youngmisuk: Jamahl Mosley says Zion Williamson hasn't even "scratched the surface of what he can do." He wants to open the floor for Zion and says health is also a major key to unlocking Zion further. — 5/26/2026 Twitter @NotoriousOHM
Pelicans Film Room: "We haven't changed our opinions on Zion. I'd love to see Jamahl coach Zion. I'd love to see him get Zion to defend and do all the things he said. Lets see what we have here" -- Joe Dumars on Zion Williamson — 5/26/2026 x.com
"I think just opening the floor up a lot more for him to attack the basket, giving space, being able to live at the free throw line consistently," Mosley said of how he wants to capitalize on Williamson's skill set. "Some of the things he's done here have been obviously spectacular -- and so just making sure that we continue that along with us being healthy." — 5/26/2026 ESPN
Chris Mannix: "The big question moving forward in New Orleans now is will Zion Williamson be part of this next iteration of Pelicans teams? From what I was told during this interview process with coaches, the plan is to hold on to Zion, to keep him in New Orleans. He's got two full years left on his contract. And maybe one of the silver linings in a disappointing 25-26 season was Zion was relatively healthy. He played 62 games, averaged right around 21 points per game, shot a good percentage from the floor. That's the second highest most number of games that Zion has played in his career. So getting him back, getting him healthy is a great sign for the Pelicans. And as of right now, the plan is to hold on to Zion and continue to build him out as a coach." — 5/20/2026 YouTube
The Pelicans are heading into the 2026 offseason as an over-the-cap team. There was an unlikely path to cap space, but it would have required waiving Zion Williamson, whose contract is not fully guaranteed. He now has at least 80 percent of his $42.2 million salary guaranteed as a result of playing 61 games this season. He can get the final 20 percent guaranteed by meeting weigh-ins, but at this point, there is no reason for the Pelicans to waive him. It doesn't make sense to carry $33.7 million in dead money on their books not to play him. — 4/23/2026 Third Apron
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Joe Dumars advice to Zion Williamson: 'To be great, you have to be obsessed with this'
