It’s official, folks! Our beloved Pelican, Zion Williamson, is still benched and won’t be joining the New Orleans Pelicans on their playoff journey. Executive VP David Griffin recently confirmed the 22-year-old All-Star isn’t quite ready to return from his hamstring injury that’s kept him sidelined since January 2.

Now, we know it’s disappointing for everyone, especially his teammates and, of course, for Zion himself. But the truth is, all those pesky “objective metrics” just aren’t lining up for his triumphant return to the court just yet.

Even if the Pelicans manage to swoop through the playoffs, there’s no guarantee we’ll see Zion in action. Griffin mentioned the best-case scenario would be Williamson participating in practices before or during the first-round series. But hey, don’t get too excited! He added that it might never happen, and the stars need to align before Zion can come back.

No setbacks or reported soreness from Williamson, just a good ol’ fashioned hesitancy. According to Griffin, Zion is not “trusting it and confident” yet, which is totally understandable considering his broken foot last season and missing several games this season.

So, Pelican fans, as we fly into this weekend’s games against the New York Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves, let’s rally behind our team! They’ve guaranteed themselves at least the No. 9 seed in the West play-in tournament, so there’s still a chance to make it to the playoffs.

And who knows? Maybe our Pelicans can make some magic happen even without Zion’s slam dunks on the court. Fingers crossed!