“If you’re coming up with a comparison, you’re making it up,” Bilas said. “There’s never been anyone like him. There [have been players] that have one or two things like him, but never the complete package.
“It’s the combination of all those things you can’t wrap your head around, how explosive and agile he is at 6-foot-7, 285 pounds. He’s basically an offensive lineman that has a dancer’s feet and gets off the floor like a guy that’s 175 pounds.”
Former Knicks guard and Turner Sports analyst Greg Anthony played with Larry Johnson, one of the premier athletes the college game has ever seen, for two seasons at UNLV. Johnson had the ability to play inside and out, to jump over and through opponents, and shoot from the perimeter. Williamson’s game, Anthony said, is more advanced as a freshman than Johnson’s was as a junior.
“His game is a little more evolved,” said Anthony, who has seen Williamson up close on the AAU circuit while following his son, Cole, a top-rated senior guard at Oak Hill Academy. “Larry was a power forward who could play on the perimeter; Zion is a perimeter player who can play in the paint.”