At around 7:30 p.m. ET tonight, NBA commissioner Adam Silver will appear on a stage in the Barclays Center and utter these words:
With the first pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans select Zion Williamson from Duke University.
The 6’7, 284-pound forward will then stand, greet his family, walk towards the stage, don a Pelicans cap that will be handed to him and shake Silver’s hand. It will be all smiles for arguably the most promising new player to enter the league since LeBron James in 2003.
When Williamson’s NBA career excitedly takes off tonight, it won’t be free and clear of controversy.