EverythingTop10 is proud to present, “The Top 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Zion
Williamson!”
#10.
He is named after the Biblical Mount Zion.
When his mother was pregnant with him, Zion’s grandmother would always tell his mother how
special he was.
One of her demands was that when looking for a name, Zion’s mother was to look for something
special.
She was flipping through the Bible and the name Zion caught her eye.
She thought it was a special name and gave it to her son.
Zion is one of the biggest mountains in Jerusalem.
“Now, he is so big he looks like a Mount Zion” quipped his mother in 2016.
His middle name Lateef also has great spiritual significance.
Lateef matches his father’s name, but Al-Lateef is also one of the names of God in Islam.
#9.
Zion’s parents were both capable athletes.
He comes from a family of athletes with his mother and father both being accomplished
in their respective disciplines.
Zion was born to Lateef Williamson and Sharonda Sampson.
His father was a capable football player who played defensive lineman at Mayo High School
in South Carolina, before going on to star at the Livingstone College.
His mother on the other hand was a sprinter at Livingstone, later becoming a middle school
health and physical education teacher.
At five years old, his parents separated, and his mother got married to Lee Anderson
who had been a point guard at Clemson and Columbus.
It is Lee who started teaching Zion the basics of being a point guard at that early age.
#8.
He always wanted to be a basketball star.
He had a strong sports and basketball foundation growing up, with the right people around him
to train and motivate him.
He also had one of the key ingredients that many athletes only ever get when they are
older, the knowledge and desire to become the best at a particular sport.
At only 5 years old, Zion apparently told his mother he wanted to become the number
1 player in the country and play college basketball.
He was the only 5-year-old in an AAU team full of 9-year-olds.
By the time he was 9, he was already waking up at 5 a.m. for workouts.
His parents were especially supportive of him, with his mother and stepfather being
one of his earliest coaches.
#7.
Zion was a hell of a poet in high school.
Poetry is not up there with the kinds of skills you would expect of an NBA player, even at
younger levels in their education.
Zion Williamson, it seems, is one exception.
In an interview with ESPN, one of his creative writing teachers revealed that after trying
his hand at several language genres, Zion eventually settled on poetry, and became so
good at it that one of his pieces was read at an official school event.
#6.
He loves anime and Jay Z.
Zion is a man of unexpectedly quirky taste.
He might not have said it himself, but Zion is a huge fan of anime.
When asked about the one thing the world does not know about him, his mother answered that
he absolutely loves the anime “Naruto”, and would often come home and watch it with
his mother.
Zion also loves listening to the rapper Jay-Z, which to the older generation might seem normal,
impressive even.
To his teammates, this is somewhat bizarre, with many often complaining of his ‘old
school’ antics.
#5.
Zion’s college teammates nicknamed him Zanos.
If you are a fan of the Marvel Universe, then you will be familiar with the Avengers villain
Thanos, the seemingly indestructible character that had half of the universe disappear with
the snap of a finger.
Well, Zion’s teammates dubbed him the Thanos of Duke, Zanos.
This was during a time when his team was heavily favored to win the March Madness tournament
and he was in an unstoppable form.
#4.
He is facing a $100 million lawsuit for breach of contract.
After a sensational freshman season at Duke, Zion was selected as the number 1 draft pick
by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2019 NBA Draft.
This moment was however clouded by the $100 million lawsuit hanging over his head.
Zion has been in the middle of an agency dispute, and is alleging in court that sports management
company Prime Sports Marketing and its president Gina Ford misled him into signing an agency
contract.
Gina Ford and Prime Sports have however filed a countersuit worth $100 million, alleging
that Zion was in breach of a contract that he willingly signed.
Zion sought to sign to the Creative Arts Agency (CAA) after seeking to void his earlier contract
with Prime Sports Marketing.
#3.
Zion is dating Tiana White.
In the midst of all the hype, Zion has generally kept his personal life on the down-low.
There is not much information on whom he is dating, but all signs point to a relationship
with high school sweetheart Tiana White.
The two went to the same high school, even going to prom together when Zion was a senior
and Tiana a junior.
It is unclear whether they still are as strong given the fact that they have not appeared
in public together, yet.
#2.
He had a chance to play college football.
Many stars on the basketball court play multiple sports in high school, and realistically would
therefore be eligible to play different sports in college.
Besides basketball, Zion reportedly played soccer and football in high school.
Despite his clear preference for basketball, one college gambled on getting him to play
college football.
Former LSU tight ends coach Eric Mateos revealed that his school offered Zion a football scholarship
in 2016, calling him one of the best athletes in the country.
#1.
Zion once caused Nike’s stock value to crash.
36 seconds into the big game between Duke and The University of North Carolina, Zion
burst through his Nike sneakers, with observers describing the shoe as literally exploding.
The ensuing injury kept Zion out of Duke’s final 6 games, but this was not even the biggest
news on that bizarre night.
The day after the wild incident, Nike’s stock value dropped by $1.1 billion, with
the company ending up visiting Durham and making a custom shoe for Zion.
This was one of the foundations of Zion’s massive shoe deal with Nike’s Jordan Brand
later in 2019.
That’s all folks!
Please leave a like if you enjoyed the video and comment down below which NBA player you
want to see us make a video about next!
Make sure you subscribe to us as well!
Also, tell us if you think Zion Williamson will be better than LeBron James!
See you next time!