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You can’t talk about Zion Williamson’s time in the NBA without discussing the weight issues that have been a very constant topic of discussion since he arrived in New Orleans, and it appears things are trending in the right direction after he got a reality check earlier this season.
It’s been close to five years since the New Orleans Pelicans scooped up the one-and-done Duke product who was positioned as a generational talent when he was selected with the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, but it’s pretty hard to argue Zion Williamson has lived up to that label based on what’s transpired since then.
It’s impossible to deny Williamson is an incredibly talented player who’s shown plenty of flashes of brilliance, but his career has been hampered by a string of injuries some people have attempted to link to the weight issues that have been positioned as a major point of contention for a Pelicans team that’s spent years waiting for him to transform into the franchise player they were hoping to get.
That particular issue has spawned a fairly toxic discourse fueled by rumors concerning Williamson’s eating habits and lackluster levels of motivation, and while he has attempted to downplay those concerns, it’s hard to ignore the fact the contract he signed in 2022 included a weight clause.
However, it does seem like something has clicked for Williamson this season. He’s averaged 22.6 points in the 56 games he’s appeared in over the course of a campaign where the Pelicans are sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, and the team currently has a 96.4% chance to punch their ticket to the playoffs without having to worry about the play-in round.
So what’s changed? Well, based on what Brian Windhorst had to say on the most recent installment of The Hoop Collective podcast, Williamson was apparently motivated to make a change after the Pelicans got blown out by the Lakers during the In-Season Tournament semifinal game where LeBron James scored 30 points to his 13 while leading Los Angeles to the 133-89 victory.
Here’s what Windy had to say:
“I’ve got people in New Orleans telling me that since December—when the In-Season Tournament happened—Zion Williamson has lost 25 or more pounds.
His performance has been excellent. He’s playing fewer minutes, and I think that helps as well, but I’ve got people telling me he’s lost 25 pounds—and I don’t mean in the past when they say ‘Oh, he’s added muscle’ and you’re like ‘Has he?'”
It certainly seems like things are trending in the right direction for Williamson, and based on how electric he can be when he’s clicking on all cylinders, here’s to hoping that keeps being the case.