The New Orleans Pelicans announced that Zion Williamson has been cleared to participate in full team activities. Williamson, who underwent imaging on his fractured right foot on Wednesday (Nov. 24), was medically cleared by Dr. Richard Ferkel of Southern California Orthopedic Institute and Dr. Scott Montgomery of Ochsner Health.

Williamson played 4-on-4 full court on Friday and will continue his progression towards returning to play. An estimated date to return to game action has not been determined.

Former NBA player Alexis Ajinca has retired from playing professional basketball. Ajinca last played in the NBA for the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2016-17 season.

Overall, Ajinca played seven season in the NBA. In addition to the Pelicans, he also played for the Charlotte Bobcats, Toronto Raptors and Dallas Mavericks. In 293 NBA appearances, Ajinca averaged 5.3 points, 3.9 rebounds per game.

In addition to the NBA, Ajinca enjoyed a long career his native France. He played for four different clubs in France. Ajinca was also part of the French National Team on both the senior and youth levels.

The New Orleans Pelicans kept Zion Williamson's foot injury and subsequent surgery quiet out of respect to him and his preference for privacy, sources tell ESPN.

The surgery only became publicly known on media day for the Pelicans in September. 

The Pelicans, however, had a strength and conditioning coach with Williamson in Los Angeles for his summer workouts so they were aware of the injury.

David Griffin has said both "early in the summer" and "before summer league" in vague terms in describing the injury. 

DiDi Louzada of the New Orleans Pelicans has been suspended without pay for twenty-five games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program by testing positive for Drostanolone and Testosterone, it was announced today by the NBA.

Louzada’s suspension will begin with tonight’s game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.

Zion Williamson has been cleared to participate in contact drills, beginning with 1-on-1 workouts and progressively working towards full team workouts.

Williamson, who underwent imaging on his fractured right foot on Thursday (Nov. 11), was medically cleared by Dr. Richard Ferkel of Southern California Orthopedic Institute and Dr. Scott Montgomery of Ochsner Health.

Williamson will undergo further medical imaging on November 24, which will determine his availability for full team workouts. 

New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson has missed the start of the 2021-22 season as he recovers from a broken foot suffered over the summer. The Pelicans have said Williamson is progressing and will have another set of scans on his foot next week.

Brian Windhorst of ESPN says Williamson is "working hard and putting in the sweat equity" as he tries to get back on the court. But that Williamson is still "weeks away" from getting back into full practices. That would likely put Williamson's return to game action as some point in December.

In two-plus seasons, Williamson has appeared in only 85 games. He's been electric in those games, as he's averaged 25.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. The Pelicans have gotten off to an NBA-worst 1-12 start without their star big man.

The NBA's investigation into possible pre-free agency tampering on the sign-and-trade acquisitions of Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry are in their advanced stages.

The Chicago Bulls acquired Ball from the New Orleans Pelicans, while the Miami Heat acquired Lowry from the Toronto Raptors.

The NBA has conducted interviews with team executives and player agents while also gathering electronic messaging of front office executives of the four teams.

The NBA instituted more stringent penalties in these cases in 2019, including raising the maximum fine for teams to $10 million and including the possibility of suspending team executives, forfeiting draft picks and even the voiding of contracts. 

The Milwaukee Bucks lost a 2022 second round pick for tampering charges with Bogdan Bogdanovic. 

New Orleans Pelicans Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin and former Pelicans head coach Alvin Genty recently had a heated exchange. Following the Pelicans home loss to the Kings in late-October, Griffin approached Gentry to say "hello." That greeting ended in the two being physically separated.

When Gentry, now a Kings assistant, was coaching the Pelicans, Griffin reportedly told people around the NBA that he'd given Gentry "all the answers to the test, and he still fails".

When Griffin approached Gentry following this recent game, Gentry reportedly shouted "You must not have given Stan the answers to the test, either." That led to the two being physically separated.

Griffin has recently been under fire for not being forthcoming about Zion Williamson's broken foot suffered this past offseason. Griffin's building of the Pelicans roster has also come into question, as the Pelicans are an NBA-worst 1-11 this season.

Zion Williamson will be out at least two to three more weeks before he becomes a full participant in practice.

Williamson had another scan on his foot, which doctors were encouraged by.

Williamson can now do 5-on-0 work and can also cut and do explosive work.