(Video) Zion Williamson walks out of press conference when asked about bizarre Kendrick Lamar question
Zion Williamson walked off his media session after getting called out by reporter for not adding Kendrick Lamar to his playlist.
Zion Williamson (image via Yardbarker)
The 2024 NBA season took off with media day on Monday, September 30th. With the athletes fully prepared to face hard-hitting questions, Zion Williamson was asked about Kendrick Lamar. Not deeming it worthy enough to answer, Williamson walked out.
New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson sat down for his brief media interaction where he was asked about his offseason workout playlist. As a follow-up question, a reporter asked why Kendrick Lamar wasn’t included. The question made Williamson laugh in disbelief, prompting him to ask why the reporter had posed it. The reporter boldly responded, claiming Williamson had missed out on Lamar’s tracks ‘Euphoria’ and ‘Not Like Us’ and challenged his music choices.
I’m trying to understand… where was the greatness of the summer in your tracklist? I’m confused.
the reporter countered
Williamson, still skeptical, ended his response by saying that each person was entitled to his or her opinion. He also rhetorically questioned if he was required to talk about the LIX Super Bowl headliner artist‘s prowess in music. Saying that, the Pelicans star walked off, ending his session.
The question came in continuation to another reporter’s query asking Williamson of his summer playlist that got him ready for the season. The Pelicans star admitted to branching out to different genres of music. To name a few, he mentioned ‘Ready to Die‘ by Notorious B.I.G. and ‘Illmatic’ by Nas. In addition, he mentioned rappers Larry June and Currensy, listening to much of the latter.
Zion Williamson loved the Notorious B.I.G growing up
Zion Williamson has been an avid rap fan for more than a while now. In an interview with Andscape last year, Williamson shared some moments from his childhood, highlighting his relationship with rap music. Turns out, the Pelicans power forward was a DJ in his mom’s car before he ever played basketball.
Zion Williamson’s mother, Sharonda Sampson, owned a variety of R&B and hip-hop CDs, including artists like Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, and Notorious B.I.G. While riding in the car, Williamson would often choose to listen to the Notorious B.I.G, even though he didn’t fully understand the lyrics at the time. Nevertheless, he continued listening and grew to appreciate the music as he got older.
Williamson’s NBA career did not take off as he expected, due to several injuries leading to him getting benched. Expressing his disappointment, he shared leaning on to B.I.G for inspiration. He gave special shoutout to the album Ready to Die for changing his ‘mindset on life’.
Lakshita Kalra
(178 Articles Published)