Stephen A. Smith is apparently hearing some things through the grapevine about Zion Williamson.
On an episode of “First Take” this week, the ESPN personality Smith made a big claim about the New Orleans Pelicans star Williamson. Smith said that Williamson does not want to be in New Orleans and instead wants to be in a major market such as New York or Los Angeles.
“Zion doesn’t want to be in New Orleans,” said Smith. “He doesn’t want to be there. He wants to be in a major market like LA, New York, or whatever because he wants the marketability.”
Smith’s comments come in the wake of the former No. 1 overall pick Williamson getting suspended by the Pelicans after multiple reported instances of tardiness. Williamson, who has often been injured and out-of-shape throughout his NBA career as well, is reportedly being shopped by New Orleans ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
Williamson’s supposed preference for a bigger market is nothing new as he recently switched representation and has also been linked to one particular mega-market team over the last couple of months.
But all indications since then have been that Williamson wants to remain with the Pelicans. A report just weeks ago claimed that Williamson was not pushing for a trade, and the multi-time All-Star forward also had a classy gesture for the city of New Orleans after the recent terrorist attack there. Smith is hearing otherwise though and thinks that Williamson wants out.
