LeBron James met Zion Williamson on the NBA stage for the first time on Tuesday. LeBron exploded for 40 points to go with eight rebounds and six assists while leading his Los Angeles Lakers to a 118-109 win over Zion and the New Orleans Pelicans. Williamson, meanwhile, continued the impressive start to his young career with 29 points of his own to go along with six boards.
But besides meeting on the court, the two basketball prodigies have still not met each other off the court and had a conversation about anything. Based on how often Zion has been compared to LeBron over the last few years you might think they’ve connected and chopped it up about being basketball superstars. So far, at least, that hasn’t happened according to James.
“I’ve never met him,” LeBron said in a video posted on Twitter by Ben Golliver of the Washington Post. “I’ve never met him before. Never. Never had a conversation with him. Never met him before.”
LeBron went on to say that his first impressions of Zion were that he is “very explosive” and “very quick at his size.” Through 13 games, Williamson is averaging 23.3 points and 7.1 rebounds on 57.3% shooting from the field. If he’s healthy for this entire season, it seems likely that the Pelicans would’ve been a playoff team. But just like LeBron when he first broke into the league, it looks like Zion will have to wait until year No. 2 to taste postseason hoops in the NBA for the first time.
