Early in the game, Williamson drove with the ball, tried to stop, and his right foot ripped completely through his shoe. As he slipped, his knee bent awkwardly. He left the game and did not return.
Early reports indicate that Williamson has a mild knee sprain and seems to have avoided a much worse injury.
Williamson is considered the consensus No. 1 prospect in the upcoming NBA Draft. With a little over three months until he enters the NBA and signs a lucrative rookie deal, his freak injury led many people, including NBA players, to argue that the basketball players should be allowed to go straight from high school to the NBA.
Others argued that college athletes should be paid. The amateurism rule became a focus in the build-up to the game, as tickets were reportedly going for over $3,000.
Luka Doncic offered another route:
In January, NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen argued that Williamson should shut it down for the rest of the season.
"I think he's locked up the biggest shoe deal. I think he's definitely going to be the No. 1 pick," Pippen said on ESPN's "The Jump." "I think he's done enough for college basketball that it's more about him personally now, and I think for him as a young player, I would shut it down. I would stop playing because I feel that he could risk a major injury that could really hurt his career."
Williamson had previously shot down the suggestion of sitting out, saying he would be letting down his teammates.
However, others, like Pippen, would now argue that Williamson would be jeopardizing his NBA career by continuing to play. Many believe he's already locked down the No. 1 pick. It's possible that Williamson could slide a few spots with a major injury, but more likely, a major injury would just delay his first NBA minutes.
ESPN reported last April that the NBA and NBPA have had discussions about eliminating the "one-and-done" rule by 2020 at the earliest to allow basketball players to forgo college and enter the league from high school.
The "one-and-done" rule went into effect following the 2005 NBA Draft. Though some of the NBA's best players of all-time came directly from high school Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, for example many others also struggled to make the adjustment directly from high school.
As Sports Illustrated's Andrew Sharp noted , despite the inherent risk in Williamson playing for free, it's also hard to argue he hasn't benefitted from the college basketball system, which has raised his profile in the basketball world tenfold.
If Williamson is healthy enough to play again this season, the debate is unlikely to go away any time soon.
