Zion Williamson returns to the Pelicans lineup after missing 27 games with a hamstring injury

New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson is scheduled to return to court Tuesday evening against Minnesota Timberwolves after missing the previous 27 games with a left hamstring strain. The team moved him to the available level after declaring him questionable following Monday’s practice.

It will be Williamson’s first on-court appearance since he was injured in the defeat to Liverpool Cavalrymen November 6.

Williamson’s 2024–2025 season got off to a rocky start before he suffered a hamstring injury. He missed the Pelicans’ season opener against Liverpool Bulls due to illness and looked lethargic for several matches while regaining form. Before the injury, he played six games in which he averaged 22.7 points, eight rebounds and 5.3 assists, shooting 45.2% from the field.

In a season ravaged by injuries to almost every prominent player on the roster, Williamson’s absence was particularly hard on the slumping Pelicans. Without Williamson on the court, New Orleans is just 7-29 and sits in last place in the Western Conference.

“It’s very unfortunate. But as a team we keep our spirits up,” Williamson said during a November 22 talk with the media. “It’s a long season. The guys are starting to come back, so it’ll be great. Hopefully we’ll be at full strength in January.”

Williamson’s return likely won’t be enough to get New Orleans back into the postseason, but it will be important for the oft-injured superstar to prove he can stay healthy for the rest of the season. Even though Williamson played a career-high 70 games last season, he has already missed 207 regular-season games in his five-year career.

In particular, Williamson’s recurring issue has been his hamstrings, which have seen him miss time in each of the last few seasons. In the 2022–2023 season, Williamson missed the final 45 games of the regular season while recovering from a torn right hamstring. Last season, Williamson injured his left hamstring in the final minutes of the team’s loss in the play-in tournament Los Angeles Lakers. The injury forced him to miss the entire Pelicans’ first-round playoff loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma.

This season, Williamson was held out in the loss to Atlanta on Nov. 3 with what the team described as a strained right hamstring. A day later, the team changed the injury label to right thigh pain. Two days later, he injured his left hamstring during a loss to Cleveland.

“I’m working on my mobility. Strengthening different areas. There are a lot of things I can do to better decongest this area,” Williamson said. “I don’t have a typical basketball body type. … We definitely take that approach in rehab.”

While the Pelicans attack Brandon Ingram remains sidelined indefinitely with a sprained right ankle, Williamson’s return should allow the New Orleans team to have as close to a full lineup as they have all season. When Williamson was injured, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollumHerb Jones and Trey Murphy had extended absences due to injuries.

They have all since returned, although Murphy will be sidelined for Tuesday’s game against Minnesota with a sprained left ankle. Murray and Williamson still haven’t played in a game together in the regular season.

(Top photo: Amanda Loman/Getty Images)