A couple of years ago, a video of an 18-year-old Zion Williamson went viral. The New Orleans Pelicans star, who at that time was still in high school with the Spartanburg Day School, was matched up against an extremely undersized kid during a basketball game against a rival team.
Williamson recently shed some light as to what was going through his mind at that moment. In a recent appearance on teammate JJ Redick's The Old Man & The Three podcast, Zion explained the reason behind his memorable “are you kidding me” reaction:
Sneak peak ahead of tomorrow @jj_redick @Zionwilliamson @talter pic.twitter.com/RmMs1pkQzK
— TheOldMan&TheThree (@OldManAndThree) March 2, 2021
Williamson, who recently made a final decision on potentially joining the Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star weekend, did say that he appreciated what the kid, Bryson Bishop, was trying to do, but the Pelicans forward also acknowledged that he felt disrespected by the same:
“I've got a lot of respect for him for doing that,” Williamson said (h/t Blake Schuster of Bleacher Report). “His teammates were so out of it that he was just trying to give them energy. And for him to be the one to come over there and do that, I've got nothing but respect for him for doing that. But yeah, when it was happening in the moment I was like, ‘No way, don't disrespect me like that.'”
As Zion said, his team was already up by 30-something at that point, so it wasn't really as if the defensive matchup would have any impact on the game. Nevertheless, the moment still went viral as it pretty much depicted how towering of a figure the Pelicans stud was during his high school days.
We have to say, though: Kudos to you Mr. Bryson Bishop for your unyielding boldness in the face of adversity.
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