When Zion Williamson suffered a sprained knee in a bizarre shoe incident on national television, there were immediately calls for Zion to protect his future and end his college career.

Zion’s status as a top pick in this year’s NBA draft, if not the top pick, seems safe, but the primary risk to his future financial welfare now would be if he suffered a major injury, particularly as an unpaid college athlete.

However, before making his return for Thursday’s ACC Tournament game against Syracuse, Zion responded to the people that wanted to see him stop playing college ball, and the answer is a firm no.

 

Thanks, but no thanks 🙅‍♂️

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Ultimately, the choice is his to make, and Zion just seems to want to enjoy the game at any level. Considering that Duke, loaded with a stacked freshman class that includes R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones in addition to Zion, has a real shot at the national title this year, you can see why Zion would just want to play.

However, Zion isn’t the only player to have ever been in this position of risking his earning potential for glory at the college level, and even a number of NBAers were weighing in on the dilemma that he faced in the aftermath of his injury.

h/t Twitter/marchmadness​