Year- Old Zion Williamson is Ready to Take Over the Basketball World. There’s a mural on a wall in the downtown area of Spartanburg, SC. On top of a royal blue background, the words “THERE’S ONLY ONE. SPARTANBURG.” are painted in white alongside an outline of the state of South Carolina, with various lines cutting through and connecting at the point in the state’s northern region where Spartanburg lies. It’s a classic small- city welcome, some nice public art that locals and visitors can take pictures in front of to post on Facebook or Instagram or wherever. 100% Pascal-sensei Episode 19. 18if Episode 7. Action Heroine Cheer Fruits Episode 6. Alice to Zouroku Episode 12. Aggressive Retsuko Episode 71. Aho Girl Episode 5. Watch Itazura na Kiss episodes online free. Stream full Itazura na Kiss episodes and movies with english subs. He balled out through the summer of 2016, taking home co-MVP at the NBPA Top 100 camp, winning co-MVP and the dunk contest at the Under Armour Elite 24 and just.But today, on this rainy mid- May afternoon, the mural looks a little different than it has in the past. That’s because a basketball hoop has been hammered into the wall right where those in- state lines meet. Spartanburg resident Lee Anderson put it there thinking it’d spruce up the photos. He was right. Not only does the hoop help create some fun pics, it also perfectly encapsulates the pulse and heartbeat of Spartanburg at this moment. Sure, the closest NBA team plays about two hours away in a totally different state, and South Carolina is traditionally considered football country, but on this day—and in this week, month, even year—Spartanburg revolves around basketball. All because of one individual. A 1. 6- year- old student who attends nearby Spartanburg Day School. His name is Zion Williamson. You’ve probably heard of Zion. If you haven’t, you’ve almost definitely seen videos of him on one of your social media feeds, likely soaring through the air for some mind- boggling dunk that doesn’t look like it should be possible at the highest professional level, let alone from a teenager who isn’t legally allowed to vote. A little over a year ago, Zion first made headlines when he caught an alley- oop and finished a dunk over a helpless defender, whom Zion then stared down as the entire gym exploded in celebration. When it happened, Williamson was 1. No. 1. 7- ranked player in the Class of 2. ESPN’s rankings. He balled out through the summer of 2. MVP at the NBPA Top 1. MVP and the dunk contest at the Under Armour Elite 2. AAU circuit. Then his junior season hit, and so did the dunks, the huge stat lines, the viral highlights, the mixtapes—all of it. One after the next after the next, each game containing anywhere from 3. On at least a couple of occasions each game, Zion would grab a rebound or catch an outlet pass, dribble into the open court or through the defense, and rise up and dunk with a ferocity never before seen from a high schooler. Ever.“You think he’s going to make a regular play,” says Lee Sartor, Zion’s high school coach at Spartanburg Day, “and it starts that way, but he finishes with such power and force that it just shocks your soul. Watch Slam Dunk episodes online free. Stream full Slam Dunk episodes and movies with english subs. About the Show. An up-and-coming power player, Taiga Kagami, is just back from America. When he comes to Seirin High School, he meets the super-ordinary boy. You’re just amazed by what you just witnessed. And you want to see it over and over again because it’s just so unbelievable.”Zion stands about 6- 7 (and he could still be growing) and weighs around 2. He’s a lefty with the handles of a point guard and the dunking ability of. Maybe Vince Carter? Dominique Wilkins? A slightly less springy, definitively more powerful version of Zach La. Vine? It’s tough to put into context something that is arriving for the first time. Those highlights, mixed with the level of command Zion was demonstrating on the court through his junior season, have turned him into a celebrity of sorts. Your Source for the best in Basketball. NBA scores, news and rumors, College & High School hoops, old-school stories, sneakers and fashion of the game. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney is coming to the 3DS eShop this November for $19.99. Originally released for the original DS in 2008, the 3DS game features updated 3D. Watch Numb3rs Online: Watch full length episodes, video clips, highlights and more. View more videos on CBS News, featuring the latest in-depth coverage from our news team. All of the team’s home and away games are packed. Fans have traveled hours on end to watch him play. After one road game, the post- game atmosphere was so crazy that the players and coaching staff had to band together and bolt through a tunnel out of the back of the gym and run to the team bus. And Zion, who as a youngster asked for autographs from the highly- touted high school basketball players he admired, makes a point to sign every autograph and snap every selfie asked of him.“I think people are realizing that they’re witnessing the beginning of something that could result in them saying, . It’s a show, and Zion realizes that his game and the way he plays, it excites people and inspires people and entertains people. He could, sometimes, just shoot a jumpshot or make a finger roll, but he knows that people are amazed by what he can do above the rim and finish with dunks, so that’s what he does. He wants to entertain people. People get excited by the way he plays.”Williamson’s buzz hit another level last January when Drake posted a photo on Instagram of him wearing Williamson’s No. Spartanburg Day School jersey. Zion was sound asleep as the image spread.“I woke up probably around 8- ish,” he says. My phone just blew up. They were all like, go check Instagram, look what Drake just posted. I saw that he had my jersey on, and I sent him an IG message that said, . You’re my favorite rapper.’”The two haven’t met in person yet but text here and there. And to answer a question Zion often gets—no, he didn’t send Drake the jersey. I just left it at that.”From there, the celeb love branched out. Odell Beckham Jr also wore the uni and posted a pic on IG. Floyd Mayweather Face. Timed with him. Dez Bryant, Nate Robinson and Dwight Howard all sent messages. When we catch up with Zion, he’s sitting in the Spartanburg Day School gym, seated upright on a folding chair under a basket during his first SLAM cover shoot. It’s in this gym where many of the viral videos originated—the bleachers and area surrounding the court filled with people standing up and high- fiving, hugging one another and yelling their faces off after any of Zion’s miraculous dunks.“It’s an adrenaline rush,” Zion says. When I get the ball or a steal and I’m wide open, you just hear everybody rise, and you hear, . Dunk it!’ So when I see little kids go, . As he gets loose, I stand at halfcourt, watching. Eventually he takes a real running start, then leaps so high and throws it down with such fury that I contort my body in a full twist as I try to absorb what on earth I just witnessed. The aforementioned Lee Anderson—Zion’s stepdad—looks over at me and asks, “Are you OK there, Adam?” I tell him yes, but the answer is no. I’ve been to five NBA Slam Dunk Contests. I’ve never seen anyone dunk like that. Part of the interest in Zion’s story comes from the fact that all of this—these dunks, this photo shoot, those highlight- reel games (at least the home ones)—is taking place in South Carolina’s Spartanburg Day School, a random private school with a sprawling campus in a relatively nondescript small city in South Carolina. To say that this school isn’t exactly a traditional basketball powerhouse would be quite the understatement. The entire school has an enrollment of 4. K (preschoolers) all the way up through 1. Upper School,” which consists of grades 9- 1. The school doesn’t have a full- time basketball coach, and Sartor, who moonlights as the school’s varsity basketball coach, has a full- time gig as a Sheriff’s Deputy for Spartanburg County, though he says these days coaching basketball keeps him busy enough that it’s close to a full- time job.“The school is small, intimate,” says Sharonda Sampson, Zion’s mother. That doesn’t happen here. He goes to school with kids of people who own major corporations. So it’s like, ? OK, whatever.’ They see Zion, and he gets some attention, but they don’t bother him. They just like hanging out with him and being his friend.”And like the school, Spartanburg as a city has not experienced anything like Zion. Football players, like former NFL running back Stephen Davis, have come out of the area, but never any big- name hoopers. Usually you’re talking about what a community is doing to help nurture and do what’s right for teenage kids,” says Will Rothschild, Vice President of Strategic Communications of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce. It’s a little odd to talk about—but it’s great.”Rothschild gives an example of just how much attention Zion has brought upon the area: Last summer, Spartanburg hosted an AAU tournament that Zion played in, and the college coaches’ private jets were coming in at such a rapid pace that the local airport almost ran out of free space. Zion isn’t originally from Spartanburg, though. He was born in Salisbury, NC, and moved to Florence, SC, when he was a toddler. Zion’s parents divorced when he was 5; his mother would later marry Anderson, who played guard at Clemson and then Columbus State in the late 7. Anderson coached an AAU team and ran a basketball camp that Zion played in during the summertime.“Zion came in very young, and he would get the basic stuff,” Anderson says. That pushed him way over the top. Basic fundamentals, ballhandling, shooting, defense, rebounding drills. He got it all at a young age. That’s how he got ahead of his class.”“I sucked,” Zion says. When you start playing, you don’t wanna stop.”Zion wasn’t very tall, so he learned how to play point guard. When he got to seventh grade, he was just dominating.”Anderson had known Sartor from the South Carolina AAU circuit, and the family moved to Spartanburg at the beginning of Zion’s ninth grade year. The thought was Spartanburg Day offered a better basketball opportunity than where they were in the Florence area, and if hoops didn’t pan out, Zion would be getting a strong education in the process. Uhh, good news—hoops panned out. As an eighth grade PG, Zion stood around 5- 1. He finished all- state as a freshman, but his team lost in the state championship and he went into that summer without any scholarship options. The following season Spartanburg Day won the state championship, and Zion hit summer ’1. Wofford and Clemson. Then he played at a tournament in Dallas, where he picked up an offer from Iowa State. Next up was a tourney in Atlanta, where he left with “like 2. He had arrived. Zion is now a legitimate 6- 7 forward but maintains the floor general skills he honed as a middle schooler with an added bounce unseen elsewhere on the high school scene. He’s maybe an inch or two shorter than Le. Basketball 2. 4/7: NBA & College Scores, News & Rumors.
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