Shannon Sharpe refuses to compare Zion Williamson's career-night to Luka Doncic's 60-point triple-double
Former NFL player turned analyst Shannon Sharpe has refused to compare Zion Williamson's career night versus the Timberwolves to Luka Doncic's historic 60-point triple-double against the Knicks.
Both players played phenomenally, but Sharpe picked Doncic's performance over Zion's, as nobody else has achieved that feat. The Mavericks' All-Star bagged 60 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists. No other player has matched that stat line. It was the first 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double in league history.
Here's what Sharpe said on the Fox Sports show "Undisputed" when comparing the two performances:
"Kudos to Zion last night... But anytime you can do something that's never been done in the history of the game, there's no comparable performance after that."
More impressive: Zion's career-high or Luka's 60-21-10?
"Anytime you can do something that's never been done in the history of the game, there's no comparable performance after that. Kudos to Zion last night, but it's Baby Bird." — @ShannonSharpe https://t.co/dpFGCgkkQq
Williamson and Doncic both came up clutch for their teams. The former scored a Pelicans franchise-record 33 points in the second half alone, including 14 straight to close out the game. The Pelicans trailed by four points with 2:44 left on the game clock when Williamson went on that scoring run and led his team to a 119-118 win.
Meanwhile, Doncic scored or assisted eight points for the Mavericks after they were down nine points with almost 34 seconds left in regulation time and needed a miracle to avoid a loss. He tied the game with an outrageous buzzer-beating shot to send the game into OT. He scored seven points in overtime to script a 126-121 win.
Shannon Sharpe seems to have made the right pick as Luka Doncic turned the game in his team's favor in 33 seconds while posting a historic stat line. Not to take anything away from Zion Williamson, but the degree of difficulty he had compared to Luka Doncic's situation against the Knicks wasn't as much.
Luka Doncic's 60-point effort gets the nod, but Zion Williamson looked more unstoppable
Luka Doncic and Zion Williamson are entirely different players. The former is an efficient three-level scorer, while the latter is more athletic, strong and effective in the paint. On his day, Doncic could be an unstoppable force, but that likely won't be the case on his off-shooting nights when teams decide to clog the paint.
Meanwhile, Williamson is likely to be an unstoppable force, especially in crunch time, with his skillset and ability to get to the rim. Despite having a bulky frame, the former No. 1 pick has tremendous speed and quick feet, which allows him to score freely in the paint.
He used his superior physicality against the Timberwolves to his advantage, which allowed him high-percentage shots closer to the rim. He was able to challenge the towering presence of 3x DPOY Rudy Gobert, who was the man in the middle for the T'Wolves. Williamson is also improving on his jumpers and hit a 3-pointer in his 14-point burst in the clutch against Minnesota.