Before he became a young star in the NBA, or a No. 1 draft pick, or a standout in the world of college basketball, Zion Williamson played his high school hoops at Spartanburg Day School in South Carolina. He dominated at that level, putting out mixtapes that quickly became the stuff of legends.
At one point, Williamson was on the receiving end of a pretty unique honor. Drake posted a picture on his Instagram account back in 2017 of himself in a Zion high school jersey, which blew up and brought a ton of attention his way.
Fast forward to Monday night and in an interview with Ernie Johnson on NBA Together, Williamson recalled that moment, which he believed was a launching pad to where he is now.
“I think he posted it, like, late at night, and I woke up in the morning to, like, just crazy notifications on my phone,” Williamson said. For a second I was like, ‘Oh my, something happen?”
Williamson explained that he was starstruck as a 16 year old who just got love from Drake on Instagram, which made going to school that day a little more fun than usual.
“I think that was kind of a start to everything,” Williamson said. “Because after that, I went from No. 12 at Spartanburg Day School to Zion, and everybody knew me. It all happened so fast, from my junior year, the start of it, No. 12, to end of junior year, well, that’s Zion.”
Williamson might be the NBA’s brightest young star, but of course, everyone has to start somewhere. For Williamson, that somewhere was two places: Spartanburg and Drake’s Instagram account.