Zion Williamson has not played a game this season as he’s recovered from a fractured foot. Now we know he won’t be back on the court until next season.

Williamson is not expected to return this season, according to The Athletic. The New Orleans Pelicans only had 11 games remaining on the schedule when they decided to end any hope that Williamson could come back for the stretch run. It’s an obvious decision for a Pelicans team that has crawled out of a 1-12 start to put themselves in position to make the play-in game. This season has been about Brandon Ingram’s takeover scorer ability, Herb Jones’ remarkable rookie breakout, the integration of Jonas Valanciunas, and the addition of C.J. McCollum. It might be Williamson’s franchise, but this year’s team isn’t his.

How did Zion react to the news that he won’t play this season? A day later, he posted a video of himself doing an under-the-legs dunk from a lob off the backboard — while shirtless.

The clip was posted to Williamson’s Instagram stories.

Charania reported that Williamson is doing stationary shooting drills and can put weight on his leg. While he has cleared for basketball activities, he hasn’t done any scrimmaging yet.

It makes sense for the Pelicans to take a cautious approach with Zion, but it feels like a good sign he’s regained some of his confidence and explosion back athletically. The Pelicans are already a really fun team — we can’t wait to see what they look like with Zion next season.