Zion Williamson School Partnership Trolled On Social Media

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New Orleans Pelicans v Philadelphia 76ers
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 02: Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans looks on during the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on January 02, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Zion Williamson's latest charitable endeavor has come at the worst possible time.

Things have gone so, so badly for Zion Williamson this week. It all began with Williamson posting images from the gender reveal party he was throwing alongside baby momma Ahkeema. This led OnlyFans creator Moriah Mills to accuse Williamson of infidelity on Twitter. Mills leaked various messages from Williamson, while also claiming they had hooked up as recently as last week. Furthermore, Mills claimed that the Pelicans forward was paying for her to move to New Orleans. More recently, microblading artist and influencer Yami Taylor has also claimed that she was very recently in a sexual relationship with Williamson, going as far as to call him a "nasty ass sex addict" in her Instagram call out.

The internet has had a lot of fun roasting the injury-plagued forward. Stephen A. Smith delivered a particularly masterful response to the whole situation. Meanwhile, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas came to Williamson’s defense with a passionate, if eccentric, take on the situation. However, social media is gearing up for a second round of shenanigans after Williamson's team began to lay down some desperate damage control.

Williamson Does School Photo Op, Twitter Goes Wild

On June 9, Zion Williamson announced that he was partnering with schools in Jefferson Parish for the Summer Bridge program. The program's focus is to meet the needs of those students who need assistance getting ahead with reading. Williamson donated $250,000 to the program, highlighting how he was helped immensely by similar programs while was growing up. "That changed my childhood. I don't know where I'd be without this camp."

Whether this partnership was planned before this week is unclear. However, there is likely no worse time that they could have announced it. Social media immediately pounced on the story, speculating as to whether the move was a PR strategy to take some heat off Williamson following all of this week's headlines. Furthermore, others pointed to the fact that Williamson was seemingly counteracting a sex scandal with wholesome images of him with schoolchildren. As mentioned, it's likely that this was already in the works when the headlines began to hit. However, if that's the case then his team really should have considered the optics of what they were doing it because they are...real bad.

Twitter Reacts

PR move or just bad timing? Let us know what you think in the comments. Get all the latest sports news here at HotNewHipHop.

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About The Author
Benjamin Mock (they/them) is a sports and culture writer working out of Philadelphia. Previously writing for the likes of Fixture, Dexerto, Fragster, and Jaxon, Ben has dedicated themselves to engaging and accessible articles about sports, esports, and internet culture. With a love for the weirder stories, you never quite know what to expect from their work.
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