The Pelicans media staff is really doing a disservice to their owners and other players not named Zion. Covering for a guy who is habitually out of shape, always hurt and fucking up image wise off the court is ridiculous.
Stephen A is not a pro ball player. In his professional job it's obvious he has worked far harder than Zion. Stephen A has developed his professional skills, and continued to peak at a high level of consistency over decades, that Zion has not shown he is capable of.
I live in New Orleans and watch this team nightly, I will agree that the Pelicans and the local media are very soft on Zion, especially when local media has damn near called for Derek Carr's head but at the same time what NBA market goes hard on its star players?
NBA players are rather emotional and are quick to start to force their way out if they get upset or discounted. Every NBA city's local media and ownership is going to handle them with kid gloves. (and I do understand that a career as a basketball player has a relatively short shelf life)
Also, the local media's soft treatment of Zion is why I tend to look for basketball analysis elsewhere but all basketball commentary about any market not named Los Angeles, New York, Miami, or Boston basically comes down to "he wants out"...
How much of the commentary about the Milwaukee Bucks over the years has been about Giannis wanting out, instead of Giannis' skills and the team as a whole?
