Sports
Zion Williamson
by: Austin JacksonBefore all the fame and college basketball, Zion Williamson played soccer and the quarterback position in football at the early age of five. He set heights at a young age about becoming a college basketball star. Young Williamson began waking up early and training. He competed with youth leagues alongside his mother Sharonda Sampson coaching. Williamson played for the Sumter Falcons on the Amateur Athletic union (AAU) where he was playing kids older than him. Zion later began working with his stepfather Lee Anderson, a former college basketball player. Zion joined the basketball team at Johnakin Middle School in Marion, South Carolina, to improve his point guard skills. Williamson was again coached by his mother and averaged 20 points a game. Williamson played point in highschool and lost only three games in two years. In 2013, Zion carried Johnakin to a 8 to 1 record and a conference title.
Zion Williamson attended Spartanburg Day School, which was a small K - 12 private school in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he played basketball for the Griffins. Zion grew from 5 ft 9 in to 6 ft 3 in between eighth and ninth grade. Williamson practiced extreme times, and eventually learned how to dunk at the time he was competing for the South Carolina Hornets. Zion averaged 24.4 points, 9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 3.3 steals and 3.0 blocks. That year, Zion led Spartanburg Day to SCISA state championship game appearance. Williamson also took part in the SCISA North-South All-Star game in Sumter, South Carolina. By Zion’s second year in highschool, he stood at 6 foot 6 inches in his sophomore season. Zion averaged 28.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 2.7 steals per game and was named SCISA region player of the year. In August, he won the Under Armour Elite 24 showcase dunk contest in New York City.
As a junior, Zion averaged 36.8 points, 13 rebounds, 3 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. He was among the 50 players selected to the Naismith Prep Player Of The Year Award watch list. In 2016 - 2017, he took over the spotlight with his viral dunk highlights. Zion made his season debut on November 15, 2016 scoring 42 points and 16 rebounds and the the win over Cardinal Newman High School. In the same month, his highlights drew the attention of NBA star Stephen Curry. On November 24 Williamson europted scoring 50 points including 10 dunks with 16 rebounds and 5 blocks against Proviso High School. Zion broke the 2,000 point barrier on January 20 when he scored 48 points against Oakland Preparatory School. Williamson scored 28 points and lead the team over Lonzo Ball’s younger brother LaMelo Ball’s high school team in the summer championships. In his senior year he averaged 36.4 points, 11 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. His senior year was alot like his Junior year, Making headlines and debuts. In Zions senior year he managed to track in the eyes of big players like Lebron, James Harden and many others including the actual NBA. Zion recently blew out his shoe and injured his knee not playing for duke until it is healed.
23 vs 23 who wore it better?
by: Austin JacksonI bet you have heard at least one time in your life “Michael Jordan is the goat of the NBA,” or “Lebron in the NBA goat.” Lebron has been playing longer than Jordan, but Jordan has scored more points in a shorter amount of time. Michael Jordan retired with 32,292 points in 14 years, and Lebron has 32,138 points in 16 years. If he was better, shouldn’t he have more points by now? I mean, Jordan scored 32,292 points in 14 years. Lebron’s been playing two more years than MJ, and still hasn’t reached his record. Kobe Bryant surpassed Jordan with a pair of free throws in the second quarter, and Kareem Abdul-Jowar is in the lead with 38,387 points. Now whos the goat? Michael Jordan, a six time champion, even scoring 38 points with the flu, or Lebron the king. He’s bigger and stronger and he’s done it longer.
A player’s greatness can be measured by how a player can lead their team to the promised land over and over without failing a single time. Michael Jordan won two sets of three peats in 1991 - 1993, 1996 and 1998. Pat Riley admitted that nobody is going to win until Jordan leaves the league. Michael Jordan hasn’t came out and said he’s the goat, but look at the back of a pair of Air Jordan XII which say clearly “QUALITY INSPIRED BY THE GREATEST PLAYER EVER.” Jordan for the 2K12 the Ba says, “ People have always debated whos the greatest player of all time. Don’t question it what you should be asking is who’s the greatest team of all time their are so many teams to choose from 91 bulls sorry showtime, 92 chicago bulls back to back, 93 bulls first three- peat 97 bulls even with the flu, 98 bulls no push off and my favorite 96 chicago bulls 72 wins tough to beat that, what you think there's someone else? Prove it.” Clearly Jordan is saying that he is the best player of all time, boasting about his wins and his championship rings.
When it comes to playoffs, Jordan outscores lebron 10 to -1. Jordan averaged over 40 points per game in the span of 5 playoff series lebron has zero in fact lebron has four series where he shot less than 40%. Jordan accomplished this before the rules were changed to make the game easier for scoring. Jordan played in a more superior era in the 1980’s and 1990’s the game was much tougher and defence was better along with better teams most teams won 50 to 60 games in NBA history for the decade. 27 out of 37 playoff opponents jordan faced had over 50 wins while 18 out of lebrons 37 had under 50 wins. And don’t go for that “ Jordan never played against a zone.” argument because he was a MVP canidate at age 38 before his knee injury which was past legalized when he passed 25.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists. Jordan was a superior shooter even when the defence was all over him Lebron has a struggle when he has to make a jumper. Jordan never got outscored by another player on the bench in the finals. On the other hand Lebron does out match Jordan with all star appearances. Lebron has a statistical advantage to jordan in assists, blocks and field goal percentages. Lebron owns the paint with how he plays bully ball and lebron is the only player in NBA history to reach 30,000 points 8,000 assists and 8,000 rebounds. Lebron dominated the league in this era on the NBA he is able to force the defence to break and he begins to reroute their plays to the way he wants them to fall. James has the ability to play any position and play them better than others he also has the best court vision. Lebron is able to take a fallen play and turn it into a new play allowing him time to think of new ways to tackle the defence to throw down at the rim. Lebron is the most versatile player in the NBA he can guard all 5 positions and play point and power forward at the same time. At the end of the day if Lebron and Jordan played one on one Lebron would play strong against Jordan but not better.
