Are the Pelicans growing frustrated with Zion Williamson?

"I've always been the type of player to do whatever it takes to help the team," McCollum told reporters after the game. "I could have taken the easy way out and gotten surgery, sat and watched, but I'm not that type of person. I'm not that type of player."

McCollum scored just 14 points on 15 shots, but the Pelicans were +10 in his 41 minutes - and -15 in the seven minutes he sat. He also revealed that he's been dealing with a shoulder injury, and he's having surgery next week for a thumb injury that occurred three months ago.

Meanwhile, Zion Williamson, who hasn't played since Jan. 2, sat out the play-in. But that didn't stop him from going through a full workout before the game, ending it with a windmill dunk.

Williamson has been rehabbing a hamstring injury for three months, but Tuesday he told the media he felt "physically fine."

"Physically, I'm fine, now it's just a matter of when I feel like Zion," Williamson said. "I know the atmosphere I'd be entering based off playoff experience, now it's just a matter of when I feel like Zion."

Of course, the "playoff experience" Williamson is talking about is his experience watching the Pelicans from the bench last season. He has played 114 of a possible 308 games since New Orleans drafted him with the No. 1 pick in 2019, missing all three play-in games and all six Pelicans playoff games.

Williamson and Brandon Ingram each got maximum contracts since the Pelicans added them in 2019. Since then, New Orleans has finished 13th, 11th, 9th and 9th in the West, and this was their first season with a winning record (42-40). 

According to Shams Charania, Williamson's conditioning "is just not there," so it wasn't like the team was going to suit him up no matter how many dunks he did. And Ingram and Williamson are still 25 and 22 years old, repesctively. But comments from McCollum and a Pelicans beat reporter show that frustration may be growing