Drew Brees, Zion Williamson have formed tight bond

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The Houston Astros traded for Zack Greinke on Wednesday, giving the city yet another star to call its own. This not long after the Rockets traded for Russell Westbrook. Perhaps no city has more individual star players than Houston does.

New Orleans, though, now boasts two of the biggest names in its only two major sports.

Drew Brees and Zion Williamson have formed a tight bond despite their 21-year age difference.

After the Pelicans made Williamson the No. 1 overall choice in the NBA draft, Brees signed a jersey to Williamson that read: “To Zion – Passing the torch to you! Who dat!”

“That was just my personal statement to him, welcoming him to the city and letting him know that I want to be there as a resource, whatever I can do,” Brees said Thursday, via Amie Just of the Times-Picayune. “I feel that way about every rookie that walks in the door here, too.”

New Orleans’ two biggest stars finally met in Los Angeles before the ESPYs. Brees since has become a mentor to Williamson.

“Zion hasn’t played a game, right? He hasn’t even stepped foot on the court yet,” Brees said. “So, as much excitement as there is and I think at the end of the day, for me as being a guy who knows what it’s like to come to a city and feeling like it’s kind of starting from scratch, you know, building something from the ground up.

“That’s the way we felt when we came here in ’06 with Sean Payton and all the guys that came in that year, and here we are 14 years later. We’re able to look at all that we accomplished and how we’re still trying to climb and get better.”