Zion Williamson has recently been making headlines for not being close to Pelicans teammates and the Hornets having a preference for Brandon Ingram over Zion Williamson. Born in Salisbury, North Carolina, Zion Williamson, originally Zion Lateef Williamson, is an American professional basketballer. Williamson’s dreamt of becoming a professional basketball player from a young age. Thus, he started to train regularly by waking up at 5:00 A.M. every morning.
Zion’s mother was his first coach because she trained him to compete in youth leagues. To improve his skills as a player, Zion began training under his stepfather, Lee Anderson, a former professional basketball player. Zion finished his high school education at Spartanburg Day, where he continued to polish his skills as a basketball player. Following his graduation from high school, Zion attended Duke University, where he continued to play basketball at the college level.
On August 15, 2018, Zion played for Duke in a pre-season game in an 86-67 win over Ryerson, a Canadian University. Another one of his powerful performances was witnessed by the team on 5 January 2019 when his team played against Clemson. Zion suffered a grade-1 knee sprain during a basketball match against North Carolina on February 20, which led him to sit out of the game.
The game against North Carolina was lost by Duke University after Zion walked out of the game. Zion’s fall was caused by the Nike shoes he was wearing during the game, which led to a decline in the brand’s shoes by $1.1 B. Williamson announced his 2019 NBA draft eligibility on April 15, 2019. Zion was drafted by New Orleans Pelicans on June 20, 2019, and he signed the deal with them on July 1, 2019.
Williamson signed an extension of 5 rookie years with New Orleans Pelican on July 6, 2022, worth $193 M with the guarantee to increase upto $231 M. Zion is the son of Lateef Williamson, a football defensive lineman, and Sharonda Sampson, a sprinter. Zion is currently in a relationship with a woman named Ahkeema. Zion and Ahkeema announced their pregnancy via YouTube video in June 2023.
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Zion Williamson’s Net Worth
The star basketball player enjoys an estimated net worth of $18 M, most of which he accumulated through his successful career in basketball. Zion has an estimated annual salary of $2 M and a monthly earning of $1,50,000. New Orleans Pelicans pays Zion a whopping amount of $7.3 M annually to be a part of their team. Zion signed a four-year extension contract with New Orleans Pelican worth $44 M. Zion earned $9,757,440 in the 2019-20 season and $10,2454,480 in the 2021-22 season.
A crucial amount of Zion’s income comes from brand endorsement deals. Some of the brand Zion endorses include Mountain Dew, Gatorade, 2K Sports, Panini, and Fanatics. The biggest brand deal cracked by Zion is his seven-year shoe deal with Jordan worth $75 M. Zion also released Jordan Zion 1, his first signature shoe, and it is expected that Zion will soon be becoming the face of the brand in the future. Zion also features in commercial advertisements to supplement his income.
Zion earns a crucial amount of money through his investments with his latest investment in Whatnot alongside seven other investors. Zion is a proud owner of a custom-made Ford Raptor, a Mercedes-AMG-Mercedes AMG 63, and a Mercedes GT-4. Zion owns an infinity Gantlet inspired by Thanos worth $50,000. Zion owns a mansion in North Carolina worth $950,000, and his family lives there.
During the Covid-19 peak, Zion announced he would pay the salary of the employees working at Smoothie King. Zion has a significant amount of followers on Instagram, around 5 M, that he uses to his advantage. Zion does brand collaborations to promote their products on his Instagram page. Zion’s net worth increased drastically from $14 M in 2018 to $18 M in 2023.
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