Zion Williamson is uniquely situated to give his friend Ja Morant advice on this one.

Morant suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in January and played in only nine games after serving a 25-game suspension to begin the season for conduct detrimental to the league. Williamson, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, has struggled with injuries throughout his NBA career and played just 29 games from the start of the 2021-22 season to the end of 2022-23.

So it made sense for Williamson to reach out to his fellow South Carolina native when Morant, the No. 2 pick in 2019, went down for the season last month.

"I hit him and his people up, just to say that my line is open if you need me," Williamson told the Commercial Appeal after the Pelicans' 96-87 win over the Grizzlies on Monday night at FedExForum. "I know Ja's got good people around him, so he's going to bounce back."

The Grizzlies had struggled to start the season without Morant but went 6-3 in the games he played and seemed to be turning a corner when he injured his shoulder. That was followed by injuries to Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart that effectively ended Memphis' chances of competing for a playoff spot this season.

"Man, I felt his pain," Williamson said. "Just for me, missing my whole third year, starting off my fourth year really good, just to go down with a hamstring for the rest of the year, I feel for him on that one."

Williamson and Morant played AAU ball together while growing up in South Carolina, and Williamson called Morant "my brother" after the Pelicans' opening night win over the Grizzlies. Williamson says he knows from his own experiences how difficult it is to be out with long-term injuries.

"It's demoralizing, just being on the sideline game after game and just not being able to impact the game," Williamson said. "As a competitor, it's demoralizing. But it makes you mentally stronger."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Zion Williamson empathizes with injured Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant