Ming vases and such

Zion Williamson played basketball last night, logging a season-high 35 minutes and scoring 21 points after a couple of days of one of those silly debates with which sports-talk radio sometimes occupies itself.

The debate: "Should Zion play in back-to-back games for the first time this season, given that he missed so much of the season because of knee surgery and his team (the New Orleans Pelicans) are 26-36 and unlikely to make the playoffs with or without him?"

Couple of items about that.

Item the first: Zion Williamson is 19 years old.

Item the second: The Pelicans are paying him a guaranteed $20 million over the next two years to, you know, play basketball.

Item the third: See item the first.

Which means the kid should be able to play back-to-back NBA games without drawing a labored breath. Also, $20 million. This may be the kind of money you pay to put a Ming vase on display, but Zion Williamson is not a Ming vase. He's an awesome physical specimen with an equally awesome skill set. You don't stand back and admire how pretty he looks in street clothes because, golly, if you actually play him more than every other game, something bad might happen.

Well, of course it might. Zion might step in front of a bus. He might get hit on the head by a meteor. He might blow out the knee again in practice. So you might as well play him.

The whole deal reminds me of a conversation I had with legendary Anderson Madison Heights  coach Phil Buck back in Indiana high school basketball's before time. The Pirates were headed to the regional in those days when teams were compelled to play two games in one day three Saturdays in a row. So I asked Phil how tough this was on his kids.

It's been a long time, so I don't remember his reply word-for-word. But the gist was that these same kids spent all summer on the playground running it for eight hours a day sometimes -- and besides, they were 16, 17 years old. Two games in one day, separated by several hours, was nothing for those young legs.

Pretty much the same thing Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said last night when asked about Zion playing back-to-back games.

"I think he's fine," he replied with barely concealed scorn. "We worry about him too freakin' much. OK? He's fine. He's 19 years old. He'll be fine."

Exactly.