Zion Williamson Felt Bad About Leaving Duke And Declaring For The Draft

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Zion Williamson
Zion would have preferred to stay for an extra year.

Tomorrow night, the NBA Draft Lottery will take place and some of the worst teams in the league will find out whether or not they will be drafting first overall in the Draft in June. Duke Blue Devils star Zion Williamson is expected to go first overall in the draft after he dominated the NCAA with his impressive athleticism and monstrous dunks. 

Once the season came to an end, Williamson was the last of his teammates to declare for the draft and in a recent interview with Franklyn Calle of Slam, the young star explained how he didn't want to leave University.

"You get this college experience once," Zion said. "If you're in a situation like mine, where you're one and done, I'm just trying to make the most of what I got. I love Duke, and honestly, I don’t want to leave. If I didn’t have as much at stake, I probably would stay for another year. But I can't."

Zion Williamson Felt Bad About Leaving Duke And Declaring For The Draft
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Williamson then went on to talk about how his dream has always been to be in the NBA and that at the end of the day, declaring for the draft was simply something he had to do.

"Being at Duke was a dream come true for me. Everything about it. Looking to the sidelines, Whoa, that's Coach K I'm playing for! Coach K is looking at me [and] telling me I'm built for this moment. I have a true brotherhood on and off the court. Everything was just a movie," he explained. "This was the best year of my life. So if I could come back for a second year I would, but unfortunately that's just not the reality we live in. The reality we live in is [that] my ultimate dream is the NBA. It's what I've been dreaming about as a kid so I have to pursue that. And I have to take care of my family."

Where do you think the Duke star will wind up?


About The Author
Alexander Cole is the current editor-in-chief of HotNewHipHop. He started at HotNewHipHop back in 2018 where he began as a Sports and Sneakers writer. It was here where he began to hone his craft, putting his journalism degree from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, to good use. Since that time, he has documented some of the biggest stories in the hip-hop world. From the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef to the disturbing allegations against Diddy, Alex has helped HotNewHipHop navigate large-scale stories as they happen. In 2021, he went to the Bahamas for the Big 3's Championship Game. It was here where he got to interview legendary figures like Ice Cube, Clyde Drexler, and Stephen Jackson. He has also interviewed other superstar athletes such as Antonio Brown, Damian Lillard, and Paul Pierce. This is in addition to conversations with social media provocateurs like Jake Paul, and younger respected artists like Kaycyy, Lil Tecca, and Jeleel!
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