This 2021 Zion Williamson Beckett 8.5 Rookie NO Hornets Panini NBA Card #51 Duke is the exact item you will receive and has been certified Authentic by REM Fine Collectibles.
Zion Lateef Williamson (born July 6, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward position. Following a freshman-year stint with the Duke Blue Devils, Williamson was selected by the Pelicans with the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft.
He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2020. In 2021, he became the fourth youngest NBA player to be selected to an All-Star game. Born in Salisbury, North Carolina, Williamson attended Spartanburg Day School, where he was a consensus five-star recruit and was ranked among the top five players in the 2018 class.
He led his team to three straight state championships and earned South Carolina Mr. Basketball recognition in his senior season. Williamson also left high school as a McDonald's All-American, runner-up for Mr. Basketball USA, and USA Today All-USA first team honoree. In high school, he drew national attention for his slam dunks.
In his freshman and only season with Duke, Williamson was named ACC Player of the Year, ACC Athlete of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year. He set the single-game school scoring record for freshmen in January 2019, claimed ACC Rookie of the Week accolades five times, earned AP Player of the Year, Sporting News College Player of the Year recognition, and won the Wayman Tisdale Award.
Williamson finished his rookie season averaging 22.5 points on 58.3 percent shooting from the floor, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game. He ranked first among all rookies in points per game, second in rebounds per game and first in offensive rebounds per game.
He became the first rookie since Michael Jordan to post 16 20-point games within their first 20 contests while also logging the highest scoring average through his first 24 career NBA games since Jordan in 1983.[96] On September 15, Williamson was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
During the season, Williamson tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record for the longest streak of at least 20-point games on 50-percent shooting within his first two seasons since the shot clock era in 1954–55. The streak eventually grew to 25 consecutive games, surpassing Hall-of-Famers Wilt Chamberlain and Karl Malone while tying Shaquille O'Neal's record of 25 consecutive such games.