Duke phenom Zion Williamson was back on the floor for the Duke Blue Devils' ACC Tournament matchup against Syracuse, looking and playing some of the best basketball we've seen from him all season -- and rocking some new shoes, the Nike Kyrie 4s.
Williamson, who missed six games with a knee sprain after his sneaker ripped apart in a game against North Carolina last month, would finish with 29 points on a perfect 13-for-13 shooting night along with grabbing 14 rebounds and tallying five steals and a blocked shot in Duke's 84-72 win over the Orange.
ZION. IS. BACK. 😳🔨#HereComesDuke #MustSeeACC #ACCTourney
(@DukeMBB, @ZionW32)@NewYorkLife #GoodAtLife #ad pic.twitter.com/A2RrM2rYwP — ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) March 15, 2019
SHOWTIME! Think Duke was having fun tonight? 📸👀#HereComesDuke #MustSeeACC #ACCTourney
(@DukeMBB, @Tre3Jones, @ZionW32, @RjBarrett6)@NewYorkLife #GoodAtLife #ad pic.twitter.com/EiTSv1YZoA — ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) March 15, 2019
Which begs the question … it's gotta be the shoes right?
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Kyrie Irving, who spent one year at Duke before leaving for the NBA and was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, was told about Williamson wearing his sneakers after Boston's 126-120 win over Sacramento, instead of the Paul George "PG 2.5s."
"He's a talented player," Irving said of Williamson. "We expect great things out of him. I'm happy that he's in a Nike brand. He's a special player. I'm happy that he had some shoes that won't deteriorate over time. He was really comfortable in the PGs. He probably wore them a few too many times, or whatever the case may be. I don't know the exact thing."
Irving added, "I'm just happy he's out there healthy and playing; that's all I care about. I don't care what shoes he has on as long as it's a Nike brand."
With Williamson sidelined for six games, the Blue Devils were 3-3 in his absence.
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