Big things were expected of Zion Williamson when he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2019.
The Pelicans star has shown glimpses of the dominant forward that made him a household name at Duke, but most of the time he’s been unable to stay healthy and has been sidelined with injuries.
Availability has been a major issue for the fourth youngest NBA player to be selected to an All-Star game. The 24-year-old has participated in less than 50 percent of his team’s games since 2019 and is yet to feature in a playoff series.
Zion suffered another injury setback this week as the Pelicans revealed he was out indefinitely with an hamstring issue. Williamson has played in just six games this year after having the healthiest year of his career last season, playing 70 games, averaging 22.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists for the season.
He was averaging 22 points a game for the Pels this season but now faces an extended period of time out of the lineup.
Following the news, NFL legend Shannon Sharpe delivered a damning verdict on Williamson, sounding off about his weight, conditioning, and overall commitment to the game of basketball.
“Zion has the same problem I tell my kids,” the three-time Super Bowl-winning tight end said on his ‘Nightcap’ podcast.
“I can’t want something more than you want it for yourself.
“Everyone wants Zion to get in shape except Zion. Everybody wants Zion to have discipline except Zion.
“That’s why they’ve got it in his contract, he has to hit weight clauses. Because they know him.
“It’s not the team’s fault. That’s Zion and his no-discipline a**.
Sharpe added that although Zion might want to gorge on all the culinary delicacies NOLA is renowned for, it’s up to him to have the discipline to hire a personal chef and get his nutrition in check.
“He eats that bulljive,” Sharpe went on. “Zion doesn’t have discipline. Did you see the money Jayson Tatum just got? That could be Zion.
“His approach to the game is completely different,” co-host Chad ‘Ochocinco’ Johnson replied.
“He gon’ eat himself out of the league,” Shannon joked.
6ft 6in star Williamson was listed at 284 pounds last season, but many believed he was out of shape.
Zion’s weight has been a controversial issue for years, with Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Stephen A. Smith also criticizing him at various junctures.
Sharpe has been one of Zion’s staunchest critics, saying on First Take last year, “If [Zion Williamson] loved the game of basketball, he would get his weight under control, he would take training serious.
“Actually it’s embarrassing. Because this man has all the assets to get a personal chef, to have the best trainers, but you can get all that…What about personal accountability?””
Williamson’s size has fluctuated constantly throughout the years. Numerous offseason photos have shown his weight balloon, only for it to drastically drop again within a matter of months.
Back in August, photos emerged of Williamson at his basketball camp in Spartanburg, South Carolina looking noticeably thinner.
Williamson reportedly said he was 281 pounds at the time, less than he weighed at Duke (285), and intended to be 272 when the NBA regular season started in October.
“That was definitely a big moment for me,” Williamson said earlier this year when reflecting on missing the entire 2021-22 season with a foot injury. “I didn’t look at anybody else. I looked at myself. I’ll take full blame for that.”
“I wasn’t where I needed to be,” he added. “I didn’t perform the way I needed to perform. I think it was one of those things I needed to experience because it definitely changed a lot for me during the season.”
However, not everyone thinks Zion’s issues are of his own doing.
Former NBA big man DeMarcus Cousins, who used to play for the Pelicans, said the team set Zion up for failure by drafting him to a city known for its cuisine.
“I thought it was a bad decision,” Cousins said during a recent appearance on FanDuel’s Run It Back.
“Let’s rewind all the way back – when this guy was getting drafted and we knew he was going to New Orleans and it was a weight concern, that was bad then. New Orleans isn’t some place that just gives health. That’s a place you go to gain 10 pounds, you go out there, drink, and have a good time. That’s what the culture of New Orleans is. So to put that kid into that situation and expect him to thrive in it, that was the first mistake.”
Zion’s latest injury blow is a major setback for the Pelicans, whose season goes from bad to worse.
They’re rock bottom of the Western Conference with a 4-15 record and riddled with injuries after the highs of reaching last season’s playoffs, which ended in a sweep by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
If they’re to have any chance of being relevant again in the loaded West they need Zion on the floor on a nightly basis.
Unfortunately, that looks like it’s never going to happen with any regularity.