When Williamson joined the Pelicans people were really impressed with his mobility given that he was already much bigger than your typical NBA player and he had an impressive rookie season. Since breaking his foot and undergoing surgery in the off season, there is something quite troubling about how big he has become and the New Orleans team is obviously quite nervous about the young man's potential longevity with the organization or even the sport.
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He is listed as being 6 foot 6 and 284 lbs, but there are a lot of people in the sports world that think the Pelicans are lying about that. You don't have to weigh in for basketball so they can probably keep up this charade for a bit longer but eventually they are going to have to come clean because basically everyone is pointing out that "there is no way he is 280."
Zion is back to practicing after a long time away due to injury and the above video has a lot of people concerned that the 21 year old may not be fit enough to play an entire game as he appears to be struggling simply to do warm up exercises. He looks less like a player and more like a beer-guzzling fan.
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Compare what he looks like now to his physique towards the end of the season in 2018 when he was still at Duke. It is a massive difference. The Pelicans have indicated that they are looking at "culinary options" to get his weight under control.
While being big in the NBA does have some advantages, Zion is not a center like Shaq, he is a power-forward and is expected to have some spring in his step. This is very difficult for anyone who is over 300 lbs to pull off.
The Pelicans banked a great deal on Zion being a very important part of their overall strategy, and in the first 10 games of the season they have went 1-9 without him on the court. Things haven't improved much since then as they have only won 2 additional games. This is a far cry from nearly making the playoffs that they achieved in that weird season that was finished in the NBA bubble in Florida. While they do have a relatively young team, they had banked almost entirely on this one player and the fact that he seems to be falling out of fitness is a very grave turn of events for the team.
Will he be able to get back on the court soon? Even if he does, will he be capable of playing an entire game? At least for now, he certainly doesn't look like it.
Agreed. He needs to get on that diet table fast and take responsibility for his career
Looks more like over 300 than 280 and that is being kind. What happened to having a personal trainer and taking your career seriously. Easy the team should take him off the roster for now until he meets fitness requirements with no pay. He needs to learn the hard way as it is for his own good.
If a hundred million dollars can't motivate someone to look after themselves that's just poor team management. I'm quite certain that he liked to eat back at Duke. WTH happened? Maybe that New Orleans food is just too good to resist.
Wow I had no idea they were making that much!!
I made that number up, but it is conceivable that if he stayed in shape that his career earnings would be at least that much, especially with endorsements.
Amen. I got a few Ja Morant rookies sports cards early on and most went to Zion. Yes hes good but he was going to match the unworldly hype.
it's tragic that he is already injury prone after one season. That has to be rare, right?
Wow.... he does kind of luck like a fan who won a competition to shoot some hoops with the team.. he certainly doesn't lool like an athlete there, but I guess it is easily done while injured, especially with a big frame like his. Hopefully he can get back in shape quickly, it'd be a shame for him to waste his talent.
haha, yes that's true. He looks like a guy that has the halftime challenge to win a car by shooting a half-court shot.