Zion Williamson’s summer workouts had a soundtrack, and once again Jay-Z was right at the center of it.
The New Orleans Pelicans star has long been one of the NBA’s most private big names, the kind of player who puts in the work, stays out of sight and then turns back up for training camp without much of a paper trail. This offseason, though, performance coach Kris Chrisp has helped open a window into the process, giving fans a much clearer look at what Williamson has been doing behind the scenes.
Williamson said Chrisp has made a real difference, not just in the gym but in how the work gets shared.
“I’ve talked about it a lot with Kris,” began Williamson. “And I got to give a big shout-out to Kris. Not only has the work been great since I started working with him, but he’s helped with the social media side of things because if you leave it up to me, I probably wouldn’t post nothing.”
He admitted that without Chrisp’s help, the summer would probably have played out the same old way.
“I’ll just go through the whole summer workout and show up here,” Williamson joked. “So it definitely helps because Kris definitely puts out there what I’m doing so people can see what I have going on. It’s a way for me to show (my) face.”
And when it came time to name the song that defined the summer, Williamson didn’t hesitate to stay in his lane.
“What was my song of the summer? Wow,” Williamson pondered.
“That’s a tough one, that’s a tough one. Yeah, that’s a tough one.
I got to give you one. I’ve got to give you one.
You know me, I’m always going to start off with some Jay-Z. Allure by Jay-Z.
That was my song of the summer.”
For a player who has previously connected different stages of his career to artists like The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Curren$y and Jay-Z, it was another reminder that music remains part of Williamson’s world as much as basketball. And as the Pelicans try to make some Western Conference noise, Jamahl Mosley and the rest of the locker room should at least have one more track they can recognize. If not, the front office may need to change The Blueprint before Mardi Gras.
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