Zion credits Drake's Instagram post with starting his rise to fame

In early 2017, Zion Williamson was building a reputation on the Internet as a ferocious 16-year-old high-school dunker. Then one night, Drake pushed him over into the mainstream by wearing the phenom's jersey in an Instagram post.

"I think he posted like late at night," Williamson told Ernie Johnson Monday on the NBA Together Twitter show. "And I woke up in the morning to like crazy notifications on my phone. For a second I was like, 'did something happen? Like something bad happen?'"

"It was just crazy at school, everybody asking me, 'oh my god, like Drake, he wore your jersey! He wore your jersey!" the New Orleans Pelicans rookie said. "And I'm like 16 at the time, and I'm not going to lie, I'm looking like, 'yeah that's my jersey.' Kinda lit."

Not long after the star-making Instagram post, Williamson would grace the cover of Slam magazine and become a top high school recruit. But he credits Drizzy with that first name check.

"Whether people know it or not, Drake you know, posted that pic of wearing my jersey before most of the world knew me," he said.

"I think that was kind of a start to everything," Williamson added. "Because after that I went from No. 12 at Spartanburg Day School to Zion, and everybody knew me. It all happened so fast."