Zion Williamson is an important topic in basketball circles these days.
Zion Williamson was once chosen as the first pick in the NBA draft in 2019 when he came from Duke University, and comparisons with Charles Barkley began immediately due to his constitution.
Both are 198cm tall, slightly lower for the power forward, and with that comes extra pounds and huge athleticism with some attractive dunks. Especially Zion, when we first heard about it in high school.
Unlike Zion, Barkley was the master under the hoops and could almost always jump over the opponent’s wing centers and centers, there was even controversy about his technique for catching jumps, to which he responded in a well-recognized style:
“I just jump up and catch the F**** ball,” Barkley said on one occasion.
We already know Barclay’s life story if you follow NBA closely, but today we will turn to his “successor”, the troubled kid from the New Orleans Pelicans, Zion Williamson.
Zion Williamson Injury
Zion Williamson recently had foot surgery, and we know that the knee and foot injuries are the worst for the players in his positions, so he gained extra pounds during that period.
It was speculated that Zion weighed over 140 kilograms, which is definitely not healthy for an athlete, so conspiracy theories immediately began that he did it on purpose, but also others that Zion is actually healthy and that the Pelicans want to avoid paying penalties for his unpreparedness. waiting to lose weight to play.
Recently, a video appeared on social networks showing Zion Williamson in lateral motion, which is a good step towards his recovery and return to the field, but being overweight is definitely a problem.
We compare it again with Barkley and go back to 1984. Charles Barkley received information from his agent that many want to draft a wing center from the University of Auburn, and especially Philadelphia, which is entitled to the fifth pick.
However, the Sixers entered the “Hard Cap”, that is, they have very little money available for the salaries of new players, and Barclay was followed by a salary of 75,000 dollars a year, which he did not like at all.
“It doesn’t occur to me to go there, I’m not becoming a professional to play for such a small amount of money,” said Barkley and came up with an ingenious plan to gain enough weight so that Philadelphia would not be interesting.
He ate a big meals five, six times a day and gained some 9 kilograms in about two days, which was by no means disgusting for the Sixers who certainly chose Barkley and time will show that they were not wrong.
Barclay struggled a lot at the beginning of his career, and who knows what it would have looked like if the legendary Moses Malone had not reacted to Charles’ question as to why he is no longer playing.
“Because you’re lazy and fat. You can’t play basketball if you’re out of shape.”
With hard work, Barkley managed to lose weight (he even cried a little after this criticism), put himself in order, and continued to develop as a player who was later the MVP of the entire league.
This certainly applies to Zion, he gained too much weight in a short time and potentially jeopardized a great career, I think, the athlete cannot be healthy for a professional 198cm basketball player to weigh about 140 kilograms.
The whole scenario can also refer to the Pelicans, to be understood as a message that Zion wants to send to the organization that the roster will be significantly improved or will leave, even though he stated this summer that he has no such plans.
Believe it or not, only three players in the history of the league managed to score 26 points on average at the age of 20: LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Zion Williamson.
When we look at last season, where Williamson had 27 points on average on over 60% of shots from the game, it is clear that he will have to work on his weight and that it would really be a pity for basketball fans to be deprived of one such player.
Charles Barkley had Moses Malone as his mentor, and when a basketball legend teaches you you will surely progress. Zion does not have such a privilege, the Pelicans rely on his games and the games of Brendan Ingram, so he is in a worse situation than Charles.
In the modern era, we have the example of Kevin Love, who also had problems with being overweight, but he “got himself in order” by intensifying cardio training and completely correcting his diet.
This is definitely an advantage of today’s sport, science has brought training and nutrition to a very high level, but it certainly requires the sacrifice of players, which we could see in the example of Nikola Jokic, and even Julius Randle.
“It’s hard, you don’t have to hurt yourself when you’re young and you have to control what and how much you eat,” Barkley said with guidelines that he must have someone experienced to advise him.
“You don’t play basketball to be in shape, you get in shape to play basketball,” was Kenny Smith’s message to Zion Williamson, backed by Charles Barkley, an experienced man.
He didn’t even think smart or insult Zion, he understood him and anxiously gave him a few tips to help him raise his career to a higher level.
That is why these tips are crucial, because, although Barclay and Kenny Smith and even Shaquille O’Neal are not part of the Pelicans, they sent him a couple of tips. You know for yourself that Shek also had problems with being overweight despite serious MMA training and wrestling in California.
When could Zion Williamson return from injury?
By the end of November, we will have more information regarding the return of Zion Williamson to the floor, and probably more information about his health with both his foot and being overweight.
While all of this doesn’t seem ideal, it’s far from some impossible mission or some difficult story of his return to the field. Zion is a very young player, his metabolism is still fast and he is used to playing basketball and training.
What he is not used to is that the kilos accumulate, and he sits down due to an injury. The beginning of his NBA career was also marked by injuries, and we only remember when he fell asleep on the bench while his team was playing.
Williamson has a chance to be a big star in the NBA league, one of the best players in the world, and whether it will succeed depends on him.
Zion Williamson Stats NBA
- PPG 27.0
- RPG 7.2
- APG 3.7
- PIE 16.1
- HEIGHT 6’6″ (1.98m)
- WEIGHT 284lb (129kg)
- COUNTRY USA
- TEAM New Orleans Pelicans
- LAST ATTENDED Duke
- AGE 21 years
- BIRTHDATE Jul 06, 2000
- DRAFT 2019 R1 Pick 1
- EXPERIENCE 2 years
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