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Metairie, La. — As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Zion Williamson is “expected to miss period of weeks” with a knee injury.

A representative from the team said they have no update on their release that they sent out to the media on Thursday, seen here:

In that release, the team stated that Zion Williamson would not play in the Pelicans preseason finale Friday night against the Knicks because of soreness in his right knee. The statement said he did not travel with the team to New York and was staying in New Orleans to undergo further testing and evaluation.

Not traveling to New York will also give Williamson a break from the media and general chaos surrounding him where ever he’s gone since being drafted.

“We understand that there’s going to always be press,” said Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry. “I think you guys see the way he handles the press. He’s just an impressive young man that is really mature beyond his years. But he’s also really focused on becoming a great basketball player. I don’t know if anybody else that age could handle it the way he has but at the end of the day he just wants to be a great basketball player and he’s working at becoming that.”

So far this preseason, Williamson is averaging 23.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in 27.3 minutes in their 4 games. He led the team in scoring in three of those games.

After they take-on the Knicks Friday night, the Pelicans (4-0 preseason) open the regular season on the road against the Toronto Raptors Tuesday, October 22.