Pelicans exec makes Zion Williamson stance clear after bombshell rape allegations

The rape allegations against Zion Williamson are not affecting the Pelicans’ plans for his future with the organization.

While new executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said he had been “advised not to venture into any of his legal issues” in an interview with The Times-Picayune, he made it clear the team intends to build around its former No. 1 overall pick.

“I’ve had really good conversations with Zion,” Dumars, the former Pistons title-winning executive, said Wednesday. “We’ve had lunch. Dinner. Watched playoff games together. We’ve done it all. I’ve had some real, honest conversations with him. Some real direct and honest conversations.

“We’re going to go forward with Zion. He’s going to continue to be a focal point here as we go forward.”

Williamson’s standing with the franchise came into question following the bombshell rape allegations made against him in a lawsuit filed last week by woman claiming to be his ex-girlfriend.

The woman, identified in the lawsuit as Jane Doe, alleges the forward raped her twice in 2020 and “continued to abuse, rape, assault and batter plaintiff” until their relationship ended in 2023.

On Sept. 23, 2020, the woman alleges Williamson “pinned Plaintiff down on the bed with her hands behind her back and raped her” after she refused to have sex with him.

Williamson is also alleged to have called her “stuck up” and a “bitch.”

Roughly one month later on Oct. 10, amid a discussion about Doe possibly visiting a friend, Williamson is alleged to have “picked her up, threw her down to the ground, and pinned her shoulders down so she could not move,” and then “violently raped Plaintiff in multiple ways.”

The woman is seeking between $18 million to $50 million, according to ESPN.

Williamson denied the allegations, and his legal counsel said they planned to file counterclaims and “seek significant damages for this defamatory lawsuit.”

“We take these allegations with the utmost seriousness, and we unequivocally deny them. The allegations contained in the complaint are categorically false and reckless,” Williamson’s legal counsel told The Post in late May. “This is the plaintiff’s third set of attorneys. This appears to be an attempt to exploit a professional athlete driven by a financial motive rather than any legitimate grievance.”

While Dumars did not comment on the lawsuit, Pelicans owner Gayle Benson addressed the topic Tuesday but did not offer much.

“You know, lawsuits are lawsuits,” Benson said, according to The Times-Picayune. “You really can’t … You don’t know. I mean people can sue you for anything. There’s no reason you can be innocent or not. It’s just something that people do, unfortunately.”

Before this lawsuit emerged, the Pelicans reportedly had been open to moving anyone on the roster in their attempt to build a winner after missing the playoffs for the fourth time in Williamson’s six seasons.

Dumars, though, said that sending Williamson to the NBA Draft Lottery in May — before the lawsuit’s unveiling — showed the team’s commitment to him.

The Pelicans will pick seventh in the upcoming draft.

“I sent him to the lottery for a reason,” Dumars told the publication. “I want him to start focusing on the responsibilities of being the best player here and the focal point. There are some responsibilities that come with that. Go represent your organization.”

Any revival in New Orleans will need Williamson to be healthy and productive, the former having been a major issue since he landed with the franchise after starring at Duke.

Though Williamson has averaged 24.7 points and 6.6 rebounds in his career, he’s appeared in 60 or more games just twice in six seasons.

Williamson, 24, played in just 30 games this past season and missed the entire 2021-22 season due to a foot injury. He’s appeared in just 214 games.

“We’ve had some real direct conversations with him about that,” Dumars said, per the outlet. “Expectations. Accountability. That’s our plan going forward with Zion.”