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The New Orleans Pelicans put up a fight against the side with the best record in the league. It was not easy as the Suns would have wanted from their first round after finishing the regular season as the first seed. The Pelicans tested the Suns and tested well, even though the Pelicans were without their star man Zion Williamson.

The game series ended in the 6th game. However, the series might have gone into the 7th game if it weren’t for Chris Paul?s 14 out of 14 performance. Chris Paul stepped up and scored 33 points to lead them to the next round.

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Unlike the Suns, the Pelicans were sort of shorthanded. One of the brightest and biggest young stars, Zion Williamson, missed the whole season. He definitely was a huge miss during the playoffs.

ALSO READ: NBA fans destroy Zion.

Despite reports of him being injured, NBA legend Charles Barkley didn’t hold back when talking about him.?

Charles Barkley rips into Zion Williamson for letting his team down

Zion has missed the whole season due to his injuries, setbacks in recoveries, and unsuccessful rehab procedure. Reports confirmed in the offseason last year, that Zion is set to miss time after necessary surgery. But the time he has missed has been a full season. After the Pelicans exited the playoffs, Charles Barkley was not at all happy with Zion?s unavailability and blamed his mindset for it.

He said, “You get Zion back. Man, this team got a really, really bright future. But that?s a big if. Zion?s got to look in the mirror. He?s got to look in the mirror because Ernie, same thing with Anthony Davis. You can?t be hurt all the time.”

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“Injuries do happen but as a player, screw your family, the coaches, your friends, you got to want to be a great player for yourself. And he?s got to say yo man I?ve been in the NBA, I?ve been hurt every year,” he added.

“And I say the same thing with Anthony Davis. Davis is a really, really talented player but he never came close to reaching his potential. And Zion he let those guys [Pelicans] down. He didn?t play at all this year and I mean so somebody got to sit him down. You?re in a circle, say, yo man you?re a basketball player you know, you got to play freaking basketball.”

USA Today via Reuters

It really has been a similar story with Anthony Davis, who has missed a lot of his career due to injuries and that dampens all the talent that he possesses.

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Reports revealed during Pelicans’ Media Day that Williamson underwent surgery to repair a fractured right foot during the offseason. The Pelicans were initially hopeful that he would get back on the court in time for the regular season, but that was before a couple of setbacks.

Zion needs to treat this offseason like the next season and train hard to come back stronger when the Pelicans start their campaign for the 2022-23 season.