“It was like he let out all the frustration” CJ McCollum breaks silence on Zion Williamson’s 360-brawl-causing dunk vs. Suns
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CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson
Zion Williamson’s dunk became controversial for displaying bad sportsmanship toward the opponent. It was the first of two consecutive games between the Phoenix Suns and the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans were up by 9 points with just 8 seconds remaining on the clock. Larry Nance Jr. caught the rebound and sent a half-court pass to Williamson. Zion caught the ball and took two dribbles before he jumped and turned around in the air for a godly 360 windmill dunk.
There are some other unwritten rules in sports and that includes not disrespecting the opponent and the game. As competitive as the game gets sometimes, respecting the losing team over the superior opponent becomes important. The Phoenix bench was outraged and furious over Zion’s disrespectful play during the last seconds.
CJ McCollum opened up about Zion’s play in the end and said that when Williamson did slow down with the ball, like everyone he also started thinking what kind of dunk was it gonna be. But when the Pelican star jumped and spun in the air, the crowd was hyped for a 360 windmill hammer. McCollum also mentioned that that kind of dunk is difficult to do after playing for 37 minutes in the game and needs proper conditioning.
McCollum also said that Zion’s dunk might have been his way of letting out all the frustration and his way of answering his critics. “It was like he let out all the frustration of having to watch us lose last year and having to face the question marks of Can he do this? Can he do that? Is he gonna be in shape,” said CJ. Further he added: “That was the exclamation mark on, I am exactly who I thought I was! And I am exactly who you guys thought I was and here I am!”
Also Read: Watch: Zion Williamson hands Jazz rookie the worst ‘Welcome to the NBA Moment’
Mikal Bridges thinks the Suns’ outrage about Zion Williamson’s dunk was fake
However it might appear to other Suns players, the Zion dunk was not disrespectful and neither a big deal to draw outrage, for some players. In conversation with JJ Reddick, Suns star Mikal Bridges said even he would have so if he had that talent. He said, “That is Zion bro, boy did 360 windmill. Shit, my dunk was just two-hand behind the back. If I get 360…I would have done that too.”
Bridges admitted that what Williamson did was part of the game and he still does not understand the concept of sportsmanship in games as players should play till the end. “I don’t even get to this day about the whole sportsmanship. Like bro play to the end…If you are fired up and the team got a little rival with…you want to dunk, you are at home, you want the crowd to go crazy, so 100 percent,” said Bridges.
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Nandjee Ranjan
(488 Articles Published)