Zion Williamson – biography, photos, facts, family, kids, affairs, height and weight 2019

Zion Williamson’s biography

Zion Lateef Williamson is a super popular American sportsman with phenomenal physical attributes and an outstanding playing style; he plays professional basketball for the NBA «New Orleans Pelicans» club.

American basketball player Zion Williamson

First number of the 2019 NBA draft, holder of several Atlantic Coast Conference awards («Player of the year», «Rookie of the year», «Sportsman of the year»), holder of the Wayman Tisdale award offered to gifted freshmen according to the United States Basketball Writers Association, as well as holder of Karl Malone’s award for best male team-player, and ex-player of the university team «Duke Blue Devils».

The sportsman (named in the honor of the Zion mount in Jerusalem), due to his impressive physical attributes (weight – 129 kg, height – 201 cm), speed, accuracy and exclusive ability of a 40-inch vertical jump (approximately 1.02 m), is being called a ‘cliff’, ‘tank’ and ‘flying mountain’.

Childhood

The future powerhouse basketball player was born on June 6, 2000 in Salisbury, North Carolina, in the sporty family of Lateef Williamson and Sharonda Sampson. His father was an American football player, and his mother was a sprint athlete and star of the student track, later on – PE teacher and her son’s school basketball team coach.

In 2002, after the death of his maternal grandmother, their family moved to Florence, South Carolina. Soon after that his parents divorced and in 2004, Sharonda married Lee Anderson, ex-Clemson basketball player.

According to his mother, Zion has always loved spending his free time with her. They loved watching the Japanese anime «Naruto» together, which tells the story of a naughty orphaned teenager who dreams of becoming a ninja warrior.

In kindergarten, the boy told his stepfather that he too would become a basketball star. The man fueled his stepson’s ambition and when he turned five, he enrolled him in the team of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). The boy blended in quickly with his 9-year-old teammates and had no problem taking on basketball teams with players 4 years older than him.

During primary school, he would always get up at 5 in the morning, in order to complete his training before classes. This selfless pursuit of his dream comes as no surprise, since he managed to achieve such heights at such a young age.

His stepfather would help him develop his playing abilities while his mother was training his basketball team at school. In the 7-8 grades, Zion has performed extremely well, earning an average of 20 points per game. During the same period, he was playing for the AAU «South Carolina Hornets», with his team-mate Ja Morant, the future second number of the 2019 NBA draft.

First steps

In 2014, during his first year in the Spartanburg Day School middle school, he earned 24.4 points per game. In the March of the next year, in Sumter, he participated in the All-Star Game of the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA). During the season of sophomores, his result had already amounted to an average of 28.3 points, and the young player was named SCISA player of the year.

Zion Williamson in Spartanburg Day School

In 2016, the sportsman took part in the main basketball event for school students - Top 100 High School Basketball Camp – and was named the leading scorer. In the same year, he won the contest of young basketball talents Under Armour Elite 24, which took place in New York.

Career development

When he was participating in contests for young sportsmen in the junior category, he was already earning an average of 36.8 points. In November 2016, on the Tournament of Champions against Proviso East high School he recorded his first 50 points into his repertoire, in December he showcased a record of 53 points in the game against Gray Collegiate Academy.

Zion’s success didn’t go by unnoticed. He was included in the list of fifty candidates selected for the Player of the Year Naismith Award among seniors.

In June 2017, the charming athlete appeared on the cover of the basketball magazine Slam, and the sports website MaxPreps: High School Sports called him the «National Junior of the Year», and famous rapper Drake published a photo on Instagram wearing his number 12 jersey. People started talking and referring to Zion as the main player of this generation.

Rapper Drake took a photo in Zion Williamson’s jersey

Performing in the senior season, in the senior category, Williamson continued to grow professional. In South Carolina, he earned the title of «Mister Basketball», meant for the best player among middle schools, and came second in the US rating, losing this title in the final to RJ Barrett, later ex-third in the 2019 NBA draft.

The video Williamson published of his speech regarding the decision to enroll at Duke university after having received 16 offers from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, including Florida, Clemson, South and North Carolina, became viral. He also rejected the football scholarship offered by the Louisiana State University (LSU) team coach Eric Mateos.

Zion Williamson became the first number of the «Duke Blue Devils» team

In August 2018, he made his debut in student basketball. He played for the «Duke Blue Devils» against the basketball players from Ryerson University of Toronto, making a double-double (accumulating a double-digit in two categories) from 29 points and 13 rebounds. According to the NCAA conference total, he was the first one in its history to receive all the three individual awards of the season, and namely, he was declared the rookie of the year, player of the year, and most valuable play-off player.

Zion Williamson proved himself in his first summer league

Zion Williamson’s personal life

He’s not married. Rumor has it that he’s dating a student named Tiana White, but prefers to keep his personal life private. They met in Spartanburg Day School, where she was a member of the cheerleading team. Afterwards, she enrolled at Wofford College.

Zion Williamson now

In 2019, the value of the basketball rising star was estimated at one million dollars.

In April 2019, USA Basketball Federation made it public that they intend to invite the talented «Duke» forward to join the national team for participation at the World Basketball Championship, which will take place in China from August 31 to September 15, despite his then-amateur status and age of 18.

Zion Williamson took part in the World Basketball Championship in 2019 in China

During the same period, the athlete said that he’s applying for the NBA draft. On June 20, during the procedure of club selection of new players, he was chosen by «New Orleans Pelicans» under number 1. On July 1, he signed a contract with them, and at the end of the month made a statement that he would like to go on with his career in one team.

Zion Williamson, biography, news, photos