Zion Williamson admits what’s “frustrating” about returning from injury

The shorthand New Orleans Pelicans finally broke their nine-game losing streak snapped Monday night in a 143-130 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Zion Williamson led the team in scoring, looking like a healthy version of himself again. In just his third game back from an extended absence caused by a hamstring strain, Williamson had 29 points on 8-14 shooting from the field in a performance that can only be seen as promising for their future prospects.

However, Williamson is clearly not at the peak of his powers yet. The Pelicans are progressing even expressed his frustration regarding a certain limitation imposed on him even though he has already played three games since returning from a hamstring injury.

“I feel great. I felt great tonight. The minutes limit is frustrating, but I’m going to make it happen with the minutes I have,” Williamson said in his postgame interview, via the Pelicans Film Room on X (formerly Twitter).

“I felt great tonight. The minutes limit is frustrating, but I’ll make it happen with the minutes I have.”

– Zion Williamson on his return from injury pic.twitter.com/S3lNfvkhad

— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) November 25, 2025

Interestingly, despite playing 30 minutes on Monday, Williamson was apparently still under a minutes restriction. Not many teams would give him that many minutes given how injury-prone he has been throughout his career; one could simply look at Paul George’s situation with the Philly 76ers and realize that Williamson isn’t exactly under a strict playing limit.

Anyway, these The frustrations just seem to bring out the best in Williamson. If Williamson maintains this level of play and manages to stay healthy, expect the Pelicans to come off the minutes cap sooner rather than later.

The Pelicans are simply being cautious with Zion Williamson

Williamson has played in 70 games in one season only once in his career. And during that campaign, he finished with an injury during the play-in tournament. Such is the sorry history of Williamson’s injuries.

So it should come as no surprise to anyone that the Pelicans will be cautious with Williamson. The 3-15 Pelicans have to turn things around given that they will be dealing their 2026 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks, but keeping Williamson healthy long-term should remain a priority moving forward.

The Pelicans will look to keep their winning streak going on Wednesday when they take on the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA Cup.