Zion Williamson’s weight and fitness issues have been a topic of discussion since 2019, when this high school and NCAA basketball inspiration arrived in the NBA.
Zion was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA Draft with the hope of bringing vitality to the team after the Anthony Davis era. But so far, the Pelicans are still languishing in the bottom half of the rankings, and Williamson is struggling with his own weight and fitness issues.
The story of Zion Williamson being “too fat” was mentioned again over the weekend, right after the New Orleans Pelicans lost heavily to the Los Angeles Lakers in the semi-finals of the In-Season Tournament.
Losing matches is normal in basketball, but the way Zion and his teammates defeated the Lakers with a score of up to 133-89 (44 points difference) made New Orleans fans angry.
The team’s stars were immediately criticized by fans, especially Zion Williamson who had 13 points and only 2 rebounds the whole game even though he was the team’s big man.
Not only fans and fans, some journalists or experts also spoke up about Zion. Former NBA player and current analyst JJ Redick believes that Williamson is not serious about his NBA career.
NBA legend Charles Barkley agreed and added: “I feel like Zion only plays purely based on talent and does not show effort. He didn’t actively move, even walked, and didn’t seem focused on the match. On the other side of the field is a LeBron James who is about to be 39 years old and has more blood and enthusiasm than him.”
“Zion is still a special talent and can absolutely succeed. But it’s difficult to reach the top of your career with this spirit. He’s overweight and not in good shape to compete even though it’s the middle of the season,” Barkley added.
As for the team, it is known that the New Orleans Pelicans have repeatedly emphasized the need to lose weight with Zion, but this player did not fully comply.
There was a time when the big man born in 2000 was in good shape, especially in the 2022-23 season. But this year, Zion’s eating and weight control no longer met the team’s requirements.
Reputable journalist Shams Charania further noted: “Zion admitted that losing weight was very difficult in July this year, but bigman Pelicans then invested a lot of money in improving his physical condition and changing his nutrition.” .
Zion’s weight and body mass index were quite good in September, right before the team reunited. But now things are no longer maintained like that.”
Despite being criticized as “fat and overweight”, Zion Williamson still has a pretty good average score of 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. This proves that if he is in good shape, Zion can also improve his performance. further progress towards a position on the All-Star team.
In addition, Williamson playing enthusiastically and healthy will help the New Orleans Pelicans a lot in competing for the Playoffs. As of December 11, the “Pelicans” are ranked 10th on the Western rankings with 12 wins in 23 matches.
