Zion Williamson on his 3-point shooting: “My teammates are always telling me to shoot them but I’m stuck in my own mental… I’m gonna look for it more I just hate when I miss… I don’t want to feel like I wasted a team possession”
that’s a refreshing attitude in todays NBA
Seriously idk why so many people are trashing him for this
He’s definitely stuck in his own mental though.
Four 3PMs his very first game.
32 29 3PMs the next 256 games.
I remember watching his first game as I am pretty sure it was against the Spurs and being like wtf how do you stop him.
It was. I remember being so disappointed because he had to be taken out because of the minutes restriction, but I understood why they did it.
Facts only Zion game I remember watching. That and the playin game he also didn’t finish against LeBron
You really can’t when he’s healthy, in shape, and not getting in his own way mentally. Those things just never line up for him.
Lakers
No it was the spurs
he operates strictly in powers of two, apparently
Explains his aversion to threes.
Nah Zion loves a good three
Shit I’m counting 4 3PMs in his first game and 29 the rest of the way, as pedantic as it is, it looks even worse
No you’re right. I goofed.
When I was a nephew, I posted a thread dunking on Zion during his first game right before he hit those 4 threes.
I haven’t talked shit about Zion since.
Talk your shit king for the love of god.
Yes, that’s what he said
I completely understand where he’s coming from but what seperates elite athletes and the average joe (among many things) is the mindset that you have to push through failure
Jalen Green mentality
he was so funny against us yesterday
That next possession mentality is really important in basketball, but so hard to do. Especially when scoring a bucket is the expectation, it becomes so easy to remember the shots you missed and not the ones you make.
What helps a lot of players push through this is the fact that they have a team analyzing their performance and a lot of statistics to do that with. You can remember all your missed shots and feel bad about it, but that does not last long when statistics show you did well.
Next possession mentality is touugh if your skills are only baked in practice but not used to primetime.
Guys drain thousands of shots in practice only to come out and have it fly off your hand improperly and BRICK two in a row, or whiff a putback/layup under the basket.
Also regardless of whether he should take more 3s, it’s refreshing that he’s being open and sharing his feelings. Fans get annoyed that players only give empty PR answers and then trash a guy who honestly answers a question. It’s so annoying.
I do t really want to pile on but it’s because it’s not a high BBIQ statement to make. If he can shoot the 3 at a decent rate and make the opponent respect it, it’s not a wasted possession. Over time it makes the team, and him, better. It’s what, year 6? We want to at least see him try to take the next step in his game.
Oh yeah I mean it’s not the right take but I also don’t think it’s a super bad/negative thing
Funny thing is if he took three 3’s a game and shot like 25% people would complain about him shooting too many 3’s. Giannis tried to add that for a few years and people mostly said he was better off not shooting them, and then as soon as he dropped he had his 3 most efficient seasons lol.
It would be great if Zion could add that, but as long as he’s looking to score I don’t really think he needs to. It’d just be good to add for when his athleticism declines.
What he really needs to add is durability, but unfortunately, that’s not possible.
Cause if youre his opponent he just admitted how he can be demoralized
Because it is detrimental to the team winning. Ben Simmons did the same thing and it destroyed him mentally.
Same attitude simmons got absolutely clowned for
He was clowned for not taking 3s but also because of the Trae moment where he refused an open dunk/layup in the playoffs, he lacked aggression in general, not just shooting, at least Zion is an aggressive driver.
The trae moment in unrelated. He was clowned for it sure, but it’s not relevant to the lack of 3’s. He was clowned endlessly for it before the trae thing
what to avoid wasting a possession? Compared to todays ball of just chucking up any shot from anywhere on the court.
Literally yes he said he’s looking for rhe most efficient play or somwthing alone those lines
Besides i don’t get the chucking complaints considering the league is at all time efficiency levels
As an Australian that watched a lot of Simmons best years, I’m absolutely convinced he cared about his fg% way too much. I remember seeing him start 6⁄6 and the next 2 shots were turn around middy fadeaways. . Also remember him miss a couple layups and be 1⁄4 and the next 5 fga were dunks or easy ones and next thing you know he’s 6⁄10.
People have talked about LeBron, kd and multiple others not taking heaves because it impacts their fg%. Even being a good 3 point shooter is ~38-42%, you’d be lowering your 56% fg% by a lot, let alone a bad shooter, he’d have been shooting 30% at the most and absolutely dragging his fg% down
chucking the ball can still go in, yes they are very good at it.
Ben got clowned on it because it seemed like he was running, but then every year he’d release a video of him in a gym with a fixed jumper.
Zion is being real. But is never afraid to attack the basket. Hes a scorer so it comes across a touch different. Simmons seemed afraid of the basket and left Trae Young punk him.
I mean we seen Ben Simmons pass up an open lay-up. He wasted a team possession right there. Different than Zion not shooting open 3s, especially when the first thing he does is attack the paint
I was team Simmons on that, btw.
Simmons’ issue was that he was not aggressive to score, and when he was, he shied away from contact despite being a 6’10 240, Uber athlete with elite speed, strength, handle, and coordination.
The difference between Simmons and Zion is Zion is admitting his own folly and stating that he’s trying to break through that hesitation.
He got clowned on for way more than that.
My brother in christ, Benjamin J. Simmons was afraid to dunk the ball on Trae Young. Zion doesn’t have any issue scoring, he just doesn’t yeet 3s.
Why is everyone replying to me with history revisionism, he was criticized for the lack of 3’s long before the trae incident
I don’t think people would have clowned Simmons for his lack of shooting if he averages 25 ppg. As evidenced by the fact that I’ve never seen anyone clown Zion for not shooting 3s, because he scores at will inside the paint. You’re the one doing revisionism acting like the only reason people shit on Ben was his lack of shooting 3s.
He was averaging pretty much 17/9/8 with all defence nod and getting clowned for the lack of 3’s.
You’re the one doing revisionism acting like the only reason people shit on Ben was his lack of shooting 3s.
Nobody said that you clown, work on your reading comprehension. I said simmons was clowned for refusing to shoow when wide open. Later he was also clowned for other things. Nobody said he was only clowned for the lack of 3’s, i said the rest was unrelated to this issue.
Its great if you want to pretend to be “old school” and lose a bunch of games.
Taking the highest value shots is not wasting possessions.
It is if you’re bad at them. While also being extremely good at other things that allow you to score/generate offense.
That’s called being one dimensional and its a great way to fail
That’s one way to look at it, sure. You could also look at it as knowing your game and trying to sharpen the knife you already have. Doing stuff out of character/outside your body is also a great way to fail.
It’s the way to look at it that has consistently produced winning in the NBA. Rather than all this “old school 3’s gross” nonsense.
Like Zion is literally saying in this quote that he should shoot more even. Even he knows this is true.
Both ways have produced winning, though?
Improving on what you are actually good at and excelling in your own way is old school in at it has existed in every facet of life outside of sports for thousands of years, correct.
Zion and his teammates can be wrong.
Math allergic offense is “old school” in that its anti intellectual and people can convince themselves that it still works.
No one is telling him to be Steph Curry. Just shoot ~3ish 3’s per game. Its far less “wasteful” than driving into 3 guys waiting for you at the rim and throwing up an high difficulty layup.
Not wanting a bad 3-point shooter to shoot 3s is adhering to the math.
It’s ignoring all of the externalities. If Zion could get a good layup every possession, sure. Never have to shoot. He can’t so. Shoot sometimes. If not, you’re a liability as a ball handler in a modern offense.
to him it is because he is much better at driving to the rim
He himself is admitting this is an attitude that needs to change and he needs to shoot more.
So humbling. Wonder if we can change that by introducing him to big booty broads
Not really, that’s the Ben Simmons attitude, but his was more free throws
he is like averaging upper 20’s a game, you don’t do that being afraid.
How many points he averages doesn’t change the fact that he is afraid to take a 3.
He’s saying that he doesn’t want to be a shooter. He doesn’t want to take that shot.
When I think of Simmons I see someone afraid to shoot anytime especially right under the basket.
Because he didn’t trust his free throw
Simmons was a good scorer at his absolute best, while Zion had one of the greatest finishing seasons of all time in his sophomore year
Lot more understandable being hesitant to shoot 3s when you’re able to shoot 60% from 2
Ben was afraid of shooting at all. Zion is afraid of taking a bad shot when he knows he’s one of the best finishers in the league.
They could never make me hate you, Zion
Still the best paint scoring against Wemby I’ve seen so far.
He’s fucking awesome vs Gobert too. It’s maddening but at some point you just accept hes gonna make some insane shit in the paint. Guy has the best paint touch in the league other than Jokic.
I saw him play at Target Center a couple years ago and he absolutely destroyed us. That was when we were really rolling, with the best defense in the league and he could not be stopped.
I went to the Pelicans game a couple weeks ago and he did pretty damn well then too. At that game I was actually reflecting and feeling really lucky to see him play live twice with all the injuries he’s had.
So real im still high on Zion. Not Bron levels as expected when coming in, but he can be the 1 or 2 on a good team with players surrounding him. Astonishing the Pels can’t put it all together with the skill they have
Part of it is just him not being healthy. It’s hard to develop and get better when you aren’t on the court more than 26 games in a row.
This year is probably the healthiest he has looked since college.
Says a lot that the Pels are still abysmal this season despite a mostly healthy Zion
At this point it’s gotta be largely the coaching. Their players are pretty good in having a pretty healthy Zion, trey murphy, herb jones, fears and queen. Teams clamored for quite a few of these players
That’s because they’re all scalable, solid role players for contending teams, none of them sans Zion are ceiling raisers though
Eh, he has too many durability issues to be a 1. His best role on a successful team might be as an amazing sixth man. Put less stress on him and get an explosive rim runner off the bench that can spark the offense.
Joel dropped 70 on Wemby
Why is scoring against wemby the standard and not scoring in general lol
I think the point is that because Wemby is one of the premier if not the premier rim defenders scoring against him is more impressive than scoring on other players.
Do you watch basketball?
sometimes
Who said it ain’t lol
cuz he specifically mentioned wemby
Never mentioned anything about standards though
wemby was the only person he mentioned. Zion scores great against a lot of teams.
It sounds like he finds it more exciting seeing him score on Wemby though. It’s like seeing Jayson Tatum dunk on LeBron. He dunks on plenty of people but seeing him do it to Bron was a little extra cool
How do you get offended by a compliment
i’m not offended. i’m just saying zion scores great in general against everyone
I might be in the minority here, but I don’t hate that he said this.
Seems genuine in his reasoning and its kind of refreshing. Hope this dude stays healthy moving forward.
the issue is that you can’t develop a 3 point shot if you dont take them or even worse, hesistate to
Being a Piston/Ausar fan I understand the issue lol
Just saying him admitting his struggle is mental is somewhat refreshing, taking some accointability, thats all.
Dyson Daniels nodding his head in approval
Hope this dude stays healthy moving forward.
Me coping every single season he’s been in the league. He’s a somehow even more disappointing Embiid, unfortunately. Absolutely absurd potential that he will simply never achieve.
Pels fans, I love Zion and hope I’m wrong.
He’s obviously lying
Go to bed
Bet me $10 he don’t take a single three for the next 3 games
How much I gotta bet you to shut up
At almost 60% from 2, it’s far from the biggest problem he has to worry about.
This is also why I get it. In his mind he’s like I can get any shot I want, why take one I don’t make at a high clip?
It’s kind of like MJ. He could shoot 3s okay but why take long shot when you can walk into 2pts???
Very honest statement
Ben Simmons got to him
They brought Poole in as a vet mentor for a reason.
Nah that’s if we see Zion pass up wide open dunks
Zion- DNP, Trae Young out there somewhere
Ben Simmons texts him “stay strong, they just don’t understand”
This is a good attitude to have
Zion should be over letting his team down by now.
He’s nothing if not efficient TBF
He’s not a great free throw shooter. But he has a pretty bad whistle, I feel like he deserves a few more calls almost every time I watch him
When he plays.
I rest my case.
Every single possession matter when you are fighting for a championship.
Wait…
Considering the gravity he has as a super physical, vertical, and efficient paint scorer (as well as offensive rebounder on his own misses) I think it’s a good thing.
As a career 32% three point shooter, that’s <1 pps, whereas he’s sitting at nearly 1.2 pps in the paint, not even factoring rebounding or fouls.
And his three point shooting isn’t heavily respected, he’s not bending the defense. Outside of just wanting to take threes, there’s no reason for him to take threes.
Obviously you’re a star-level player with the respect of your coaches and teammates, let it fly if you want. But the three point shot doesn’t have value to him.
How dare you use numbers to back up your reasoning! That doesn’t fly in this subreddit bucko.
That doesn’t fly anywhere anymore really lol
I hate how right you are.
One of the most likable, human guys in the league & he gets so much hate cus as fans we expect these dudes to be robots.
I really want this dude to succeed.
One of the most human and likable guys in the league? We serious? I could name like, 50 guys who fit that description more than Zion does.
1⁄50 out of nearly 500 still fits both of our descriptions
Ya’ll are like a plastic bag in the wind
Who is yall? I am one person commenting & my comments are public. Never said a bad thing abt Zion
Zion averages nearly 60%FG and almost 8FTAs a game; he’s shooting 63%TS for the year and for his career.
You have to have rocks for brains to clown his attitude here. Especially when the league is wrought with dudes shooting ‘heat check’ pull up 3’s every other possession
i think there is a nice balance between appreciating how efficient he is, while also recognizing that he should be taking more than 4 total three’s in 43 games played this year
Definitely not arguing against him shooting more 3s - or jumpers for that matter. I think Zion is more than capable of becoming a decent shooter and expanding his game; and I hope he starts doing just that, for his sake and the sake of great basketball.
My argument is against the people clowning him here for his attitude of wanting to be efficient
Call me crazy but some team should buy low on Zion. He’s in better shape and finally playing a decent amount this season. Still only like 25 years old.
Not my Lakers because we’ll give up 200 ppg adding him to our defense, but some team should do it.
Which is why the Pels shouldn’t sell low
problem is it won’t get higher than it is at the moment.
with Joe Dumars you never know
Did he finally get on the wegovy train? He actually seems to be maintaining the weight loss.
His touch at the rim, which used to be otherworldly, has seriously declined. When you pair this with the decline in his first step, his impact is at an all-time low.
I struggle to see him successfully paired with other high end offensive players because he doesn’t move around off-ball the way he did when he came into the league and he isn’t a good enough playmaker to justify taking the ball out of the hands of a co-star.
According to BBallRef, his shooting splits by distance are .727 at the rim and .380 between 3 and 10 ft from the rim.
For comparison, those numbers were .679 and .510 last year, and .718 and .397 two years ago. Doesn’t look like a major drop off in touch around the rim.
That’s because his rim frequency has dropped off. He’s more selective about shooting at the rim because he can’t score as effectively on “harder” shots. His rim frequency percentage has been in the mid-to-upper 60s the last three seasons. In his first three seasons it was in the mid 70s.
He’s shooting career high 73% within 3 feet this year, up from 68% last year
That is his unblocked rim fg%, which is the third lowest of his career.
Why are you getting downvoted? Seems like a fair point on both comments you posted
I think they need to build around Derik Queen now… I think you’re right Ja and Zions game did not age well as they were athletic freaks who didn’t really improve all that much from a shooting perspective and they’re still good players just don’t have that superstar potential anymore. Most players athletic primes are until about 27-28 and they continue to be great as their IQ and skills get to an all time high after 28 into their 30s. I don’t see that happening with Zion
Forgot Zion is still playing. Actually been pretty healthy this yr wow
Of course. His contract ends next year. Has to try for a bit.
While the contract runs through 2028, the final three years (2025-26, 2026-27, 2027-28) became non-guaranteed after he missed more than 22 games in the 2022-23 season.
The three pointer is the most efficient shot in the league… but not for him, because he is so efficient in the paint. So I get what he is saying: why take a bad shot when I could take a good shot?
Bro needs a sports psychologist
i guarantee his small jaw and baby face is why he’s so neurotic. eating to fill the hole that the depression of having a face that doesnt match your stature. probably got teased a lot.
🤣 what in the Reddit
Reddit psychologists never cease to be entertaining
projecting
Wtf like a third of the country has chronic obesity. All of them are filling a hole of depression?
“I eat because I’m unhappy. I’m unhappy because I eat”
depression is one of the most common causes of addiction, yes.
“Depression and addiction often coexist as a “dual diagnosis” or co-occurring disorder, with 1 in 3 people experiencing alcohol or drug abuse also suffering from depression or anxiety. They create a vicious cycle where substances are used to self-medicate symptoms, but ultimately worsen the depression. Integrated, simultaneous treatment for both conditions is crucial for recovery. “
food addiction is really common. especially if a person who’s job it is to be fit has problems controlling it.
Bro not everyone who’s struggling with weight has addiction ffs
youre right the guy whos JOB is to be fit, but struggles with weight issues so much that he struggles to stay on the court is completely normal.
This is probably the biggest reach of all time. I never even noticed whatever you just said about him and you think it’s keeping him up at night?
Jesus man, step outside of the house every now and then.
Im a professional artist so proportions are very apparent to me
Ryan Gosling, Macaulay Culkin, and SAM HAUSER all have a deformity one eye thats higher up on their face than the other eye.
i can spot it in milliseconds, its literally my job to understand proportion.
Some peculiar psychoanalysis there.. You must’ve been in his class. 🤣
yeah his food addiction and weight issues are for no reason at all.
Yeah being the most talked about & viewed players ever from middle school since LeBron certainly isn’t a contributing factor.. Going from one of the biggest names in college sports to never even hearing about this guy as a former #1 pick..
His weight is used as a scapegoat when regardless of how big, fit or whatever he is he’s a mf-ing beast. Reminds me of Shaq except without the militant upbringing & mindset.
But sure boil down his mental pressures into just being “fat” or overweight, when the weight isn’t really holding him back as much as his “mental” does, as he calls it.
i didnt boil it down to that, i said he’s neurotic because of the baby face, not because he’s overweight.
neuroticism can lead to over eating, which is the connection i made.
Cyclical shit tho when there’s a lot more going on then that. Basically simplify a person’s existence like that. Just no need tbh.
From outta nowhere to, brother’s just talking about shooting more 3’s, like 🤷♂️
its not out of nowhere his weight issues (which are a sign of neuroticism) have been a thing his whole career.
And what that gotta do with him shooting 3’s?? Just stop 😂
do you not know what neuroticism is?
it means theyre self conscious and second guessing things as a stress reaction. it manifests in multiple ways
someone who is stressed about missing might be too afraid to shoot a shot. which is literally the conversation. and why the top comment of this thread says “he needs to see a sports psychologist”
It pains me that you dont see just how unhinged a statement like this is
i know its controversial, and im not 100% serious, i thought it would just create interesting food for thought, just be careful to not eat too much of it.
Gotcha… i get the vibe that you spend alot of time alone
i wish i could spend more time alone.
It’s not controversial, it’s just wrong lmao. No one thinks like this. This is why people think you’re so fuckin loopy with that statement.
Dudes in better shape than you’ve ever been in your life, lives a bachelor lifestyle he clearly loves, an plays the game he loves for a career. He’s well loved by friends and family, and is rarely seen without a smile.
And you’re insinuating his baby face, which clearly haven’t hurt him in anyway, is causing him to have an eating disorder?
It’s the thought process of a literal insane person. There is no logic behind it other than your own biases. There’s no scientific backing to it. It’s weeeeeeird
How is his cortisol level though /s
You’re insane
yeah his food addiction issues are for no reason at all. and greg oden has more of a baby face than him
Dude is peddling eugenics in 2026
Can you unhide your comment and post history for us? Need to see if you’re larping or actually believe in this shit.
you dont know what eugenics is. its not about pointing out someone has a baby face.
My bad didn’t know I was talking to Phil Jackson of eugenics
you dont need to be an expert on something to understand the definition of a word.
Cant believe zion passed ja as the guy id rather have in my organization
Zion you are the star player you should be jacking up as many shots as possible
You hear that? A real answer. Im sure people are talking shit, but listening to that was pretty refreshing.
Very mature answer
I think this explains professional basketball. The difference is NBA players know all the percentages and spots of themselves, their opponents, and teammates.
It’s about making the most optimally beneficial play for their team with lightning speed decisions
I totally get his perspective, but man his first NBA game where he hit 4 3s without missing was one of my favorite things to witness in the NBA. I was hoping so badly we’d get to see that happen again but just never did.
I seriously feel the same way in rec ball lol
Playing 35 games in a row and he’s smiling? Great Zion season even though the pelicans blow. Love the way they’ve looked with Deandre at center unironically
Makes sense given that’s he s an efficiency monster, he’s not used to missing
i like his honesty
Funny that his rookie debut he hit like five 3s
Well I mean obviously. Your team prefers you to miss them but eventually get better. Might as well chuck them up this year and get that confidence.
He doesn’t need to shoot the 3. If he can become efficient and confident in practice and training where he wants to then sure. But he’s so efficient inside the arc I just don’t see the point.
The fuck is wrong with his teammates?
Zion is such a likable guy. I’m glad he’s healthy this year.
He so mental banging the Buick LeSabres of Onlyfans
Me on my 8th grade bball team
It’s a good thing he’s been healthy this year but he really should a top player. Would he even be a top 15 player atm
I rather him miss shots than games.
I’ll never forget his debut when he hit four in a row. His career really could have been so different on a different franchise
Just let it fly a little man
A couple misses might be a few losses, but it won’t really matter for our season and it just makes sense to be using the remaining games for development
Zion seems like a good dude despite all the shit he’s received. Will always laugh at the “how you think I played man?” clip when he asks a reporter how his defense was. Dudes funny.
Zion is one of those players who I think doesn’t need to shoot 3s. He’s got a ton of rim attack gravity. He’s an efficient scorer. He’s a pretty decent passer (could easily be better than I am giving him credit for here). So long as there is enough time on the shot-clock, him going for other shots is a good call.
Seems like a young kid with no mentorship.
The young rockets squad had this too, that nervousness, Jalen Green and Sengun.
Youd see FVV get in their face and tell them to go miss it again and again, till it was no big dealio.
Dude you’re in year 7 give me a break
He’s fine with wasting his team multiple seasons but he draws the line at a couple possessions a game
It’s kinda weird to hear this, because as a shooter, you can not think like that at all. It’s a little concerning because it sounds like he’s even afraid to take middies…I could be wrong, I don’t watch pels games.
I just need you to take the open shot. Make or miss, take it.
This guy is so fucking broken. What a generational bust and waste of athleticism