By: MIKE McCURRY
On the first possession of the newest installment of the greatest rivalry in college basketball, larger-than-life Duke superstar Zion Williamson injured his knee on a non-contact play while attempting to take UNC’s Luke Maye off the dribble.
Williamson’s left foot came completely through his sneaker and he appeared to grab the back of his right knee as his leg slid out. Williamson, a near-lock to become the second freshman to be both the Naismith Player of the Year and the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
“It’s a mild knee sprain,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after his top-ranked Blue Devils lost 88-72 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. “The knee is stable. We don’t know how long he’ll be out.”
Duke visits Syracuse on Saturday.
“We’re not going to draw any conclusions from this game except the fact that we have a loss,” Krzyzewskisaid. “That is a definite conclusion. But the fact of how we can play, who we’re going to play, what we’re going to do, we have to come up with a game plan based on Zion not playing, and hopefully he’ll be back playing at some time in the near future, so that’s where we’re at.”
UPDATE: Zion Williamson will not return. Knee.
— Duke Basketball (@DukeMBB) February 21, 2019
ZION BUSTED THROUGH HIS SHOE ? @ZionW32 (via @theACCDN) pic.twitter.com/GQXJHgTZvY
— Overtime (@overtime) February 21, 2019
Williamson’s injury occurred while he was wearing Nikes, and Puma took a shot at its competitor after the injury. Via Sporting News, Puma initially Tweeted “Wouldn’t have happened in the Pumas” before deleting the Tweet.
Puma tried to use Zion’s injury as a sales tactic. pic.twitter.com/NMNGK1cIto
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) February 21, 2019
The game attracted a star-studded cast including Barack Obama, Spike Lee and Ken Griffey Jr.
Both Williamson and teammate R.J. Barrett have said the goal is to win an NCAA championship, and anything short would essentially be a failure.
Hope young fella is ok! Literally blew thru his ?. ??
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 21, 2019
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