The first overall draft pick Zion Williamson suffered knee-to-knee contact in his first Summer League game against the New York Knicks. Zion has since been ruled out for the rest of Summer League action with a bruised left knee, primarily for precautionary reasons.

With a couple months since Zion has last seen competitive action, Paul Pierce says it’s tough to play in a competitive game after that much time off.

“Well the thing is he hasn’t played in a meaningful game since the tournament. So, you know it’s hard to duplicate that. You know, especially coming into the summer league, guys are trying to find a job, trying to make a team, and they’re playing high intensity. To go from college back in April to now, it’s tough to be in that type of shape,” Pierce said.