Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski had some interesting remarks about Zion Williamson's Summer League experience while recruiting an an event in South Carolina this week. Krzyzewski, who coached the Pelicans rookie for his lone season with the Blue Devils, thinks his former pupil should not have participated in the offseason tournament.

“No, I thought really he never should've played just because he's been on this circuit of awards, the ESPYs, everything,” Coach K told Adam Zagoria of Forbes.com at the Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C., where he's recruiting this week. “I don't think he's in the playing shape or the mental shape to play.”

The hype surrounding Zion's arrival in the NBA continued to build all the way up to his Summer League debut, where he faced off against his former teammate, Knicks swingman R.J. Barrett. Unfortunately, though, Williamson's playing time was cut short, as he sustained knee-to-knee contact on his left knee in the first half and did not return. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting with 3 rebounds.

As a result of his injury, the Pelicans decided to hold Zion out for the remainder of the Summer League tournament:

“Zion will move forward from this issue without incident,” said Pelicans executive VP David Griffin. “However, in an abundance of caution, we have made the determination that he will not appear in game action for the remainder of the NBA Summer League. He will continue to take part in training and conditioning with our performance team.”

The Pelicans finished the 2018-19 season with a 33-49 overall record, which left the team well out of playoff contention. Now, though, with the acquisition of Zion, New Orleans will be looking to get back on track.