Pelicans veteran CJ McCollum has appeared to fire a shot at teammate Zion Williamson after the All-Star’s continued absence.
Williamson, who has been out of action since January with a hamstring injury, missed the Pelicans’ Play-In loss to Josh Giddey’s Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.
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While not naming Williamson directly, it wasn’t hard to work out who he was talking about.
“Availability is important, man. We’ve got to be available,” McCollum said.
“We’ve got to do what we need to do off the court in terms of preparation, in terms of getting treatment, in terms of getting the right sleep, the right type of hydration, having the right type of diet.
“Everything has to matter to us for everybody, one through 15. … If we don’t do that, I’ll never have a real answer for you as to what we can accomplish because we won’t be able to see it.”
McCollum’s comments come amid reports Williamson’s camp continues to be bothered by a clause in his $340 million contract which allows the Pelicans to weigh the All-Star. Under the contract terms, his weight and body fat percentage must be below a combined 295.
Williamson’s weight has been an ongoing topic of debate in the NBA due to his long run of injuries.
Last year he hit back at the criticism in an interview with Fox Sports in the US after recovering from a foot injury.
“What people don’t understand is … if they have children of their own, imagine if somebody talked about their child how they spoke about me,” he said.
“Critiquing my body, critiquing how I look. Every time they talked about me, it was about weight, how bad I looked. I don’t even think they realized what kind of impact that can have on you.”
“That’s nasty because with a lower-body injury, that dictates how you walk, that dictates how you run, how you do everyday activities and how you move.
“For the world to critique me like that and all I was trying to do was make sure my foot was straight? It was a lot. I’m not going to lie to you, it was a lot.”
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McCollum also revealed he had been battling his own thumb injury for several months but delayed surgery in a bid to help the Pelicans reach the NBA Playoffs.
He said he could have taken “the easy way out and gotten surgery” much earlier but that we was not type of player.
“Even though [the injury] affected my performance some nights, I never made excuses,” McCollum said.
“I just go compete and do the best that I can and always try to lead by example.”
The comments come after Williamson said earlier this week that he feels physically fine, but won’t return until he feels like himself, citing mental challenges of the playoff atmosphere.
“I can pretty much do everything, but it’s just a matter of the level that I was playing at before my hamstring [injury],” Williamson said. “I’m just a competitor. I don’t want to go out there and be in my own head and affect the team when I can just be on the sideline supporting them more.“I know myself. If I was to go out there, I would be in my head. I would hesitate on certain moves, and that could affect the game.”
