NEW ORLEANS _ Little 7-year-old Adam Sandroni Jr. took a big swig from his Coke, his eyes sparkling and his excitement palpable to be attending his first NBA game of the season and a chance to see Zion Williamson make his debut for the New Orleans Pelicans.
His eyes rarely drifting from the Smoothie King Center court before the game had even started between Williamson's Pelicans and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, little Sandroni smiled and said he now has a new favorite player.
"LeBron James was my favorite player," he said while his dad, Adam Sandroni, laughed. "Now Zion is my favorite player in the whole world."
And then Williamson went out and played like a 19-year-old man possessed in the fourth quarter, knocking down four three-pointers in just more than a three-minute span, scoring 17 consecutive points over that stretch while igniting his team and causing a roar from the fans inside the buzzing arena.
But for all the electricity Williamson generated with his 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and his otherworldly fourth quarter, the Pelicans dropped a 121-117 game to the Spurs that left the rookie unhappy with that result.
"It was good to get back out there, obviously," Williamson said. "But, it didn't have the outcome that I wanted. So, got to be better and move on to the next."
With 5 minutes and 23 seconds left and during a timeout, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry pulled Williamson to the side, patted him on the chest a few times, both of them knowing that was the end of his night.
"I just said, 'Hey, man, I got to take you out,' " Gentry said. "I checked with the medical people and they said, 'Hey, he's got to come out.' I said, 'I ain't taking him out yet. I'm playing him two more minutes.' Then he made three threes.
"He said, 'Coach, I can win this game.' I said, 'I know, but I got to take you out.' He was just saying it from the standpoint that he wanted to win for the team."
Williamson had played a total off 18:18, 6:37 in the fourth.
He had been told during his rehab from a torn meniscus in his right knee that kept him out three months that his minutes would be low because it was best for his future.
As he sat on the bench, the fans chanted, "We want Zion! We want Zion! We want Zion!"
But he didn't return.
"It was very hard," Williamson said. "I'm 19. Honestly, in that moment, I'm not thinking about longevity. I'm thinking about winning so it was very tough."
Williamson had also heard chants of "MVP ... MVP ... MVP" when he stepped to the free-throw line in the fourth.
"I'm not going to lie. That was different," Williamson said. "I don't think I've ever gotten it to that magnitude. But, I was just locked in on the game and just trying to help my team win so I was just trying to lock in."
Clearly, Williamson was locked in in the fourth.
He didn't miss any of those four three-pointers he took.
"I'll just say when you're not able to move around, do athletic movements for a while and the only thing you can do is just shoot spot-up jumpers, I guess that was a result of that," he said.
Even the way the father and son got to see Williamson play his first regular-season game was classic in how it transpired.
The company for which Sandroni Sr. works has season tickets and he was "lucky" to secure his a few weeks ago.
"I got these tickets way before I knew Zion was coming back," the elder Sandroni said. "Everybody was wondering the last few days, 'Whose got those tickets?' I wouldn't tell nobody. They are going to know after they see me on Facebook."
The Pelicans placed red T-shirts on every seat in the arena and call it their "Red-Out" T-shirts, which read, "Won't Bow Down."
Quite a few fans, both kids and adults, wore Williamson's No. 1 jersey.
"We're very excited because it's (a) new beginning for our team," the elder Sandroni said. "With Anthony Davis leaving last year going to L.A. to play for the Lakers and that disappointment, it's good to have some excitement back on the court for us."
