There is no denying that Zion Williamson is an incredible talent. The New Orleans Pelicans forward has proven to be an elite force to reckon with, when healthy. In this campaign, unlike the previous ones, Williamson hasn’t missed many games due to injuries. However, his physical condition has gotten fans concerned and has allowed naysayers to criticize him.
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Shannon Sharpe and Stephen A. Smith were among the group of people who berated Zion Williamson for being out of shape. The two analysts weren’t wrong in condemning the athletic forward but their comments seemed a bit too harsh.
Shannon Sharpe didn’t mince his words on an episode of First Take. Even though the ESPN analyst is a well-wisher for Williamson, he resorted to body-shaming.
“Two things are happening – his stomach is going one way and his behind is going the other way. As a professional athlete, that’s not a good sign.”
Joining his co-host, Stephen A. Smith continued to embarrass the former Duke Blue Devil on live television. Revealing that every restaurant in New Orleans loves to host Zanos, SAS disclosed that his sources claimed that the latter would “eat the table”.
Smith exclaimed, “I’m not exaggerating, I’m quoting people. You got chefs in New Orleans who love him. They’re looking for him. Every chef there wants to meet him… The word out on Zion Williamson is that he’ll eat the table… What in the hell is going on with Zion Williamson?!”
Zion Williamson spoke about the criticism against his weight
Zion Williamson was the butt of all jokes for the entirety of the 2021-2022 campaign as well as a huge part of the 2022-2023 campaign. Naysayers wouldn’t think twice before slaughtering Williamson, trolling him for being overweight.
Back in November of 2022, the 6ft 6” star stated that people’s criticism would reach his ears. Further, the big man also revealed that such nasty comments would bother him.
“What people don’t understand is, even the writers and stuff, if they have children of their own, imagine if somebody talked about their child how they spoke about me,” Williamson told FOX Sports. “Critiquing my body, critiquing how I look. Every time they talked about me, it was about weight, how bad I looked. I don’t even think they realized what kind of impact that can have on you.”
Fans have been ripping apart players for their physical condition for years now. However, it is strange that personalities from the basketball community also relentlessly troll the youngster. Charles Barkley is one of the more esteemed people who is constantly looking out for the possibility of calling out Zion for his weight.
Despite all the criticism, Williamson is putting together a pretty respectable campaign. Having played 20 games, the dominant forward has put up 22.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game.
