Zion Williamson returned to Duke’s lineup Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament against Syracuse. While Zion looked explosive from the jump, he nearly faced disaster thanks to the foot of Syracuse senior Frank Howard.
Watch No. 23 in orange below after the dunk as Williamson begins to run back on defense:
Take another look:
There’s no question Howard sticks his foot out in an attempt to take Williamson down. He should have been given a technical foul and possibly ejected for doing so.
Look, I was one of the people hardest on Grayson Allen for his tripping spree. On top of that, I’m the polar opposite of a Duke fan. But if we’re going to say you can’t trip people, that standard needs to be applied universally. Howard should have to take a seat.
Williamson is coming off an injury and, to that point in the game, had been fantastic in his return. It’s not hard to imagine Howard getting frustrated and attempting to gain an advantage by taking him down.
This was intentional. There’s no way you can watch that video and not think so. Howard has to serve some sort of punishment for it. It was straight up dirty.
