Zion Williamson has been the talk of the town for his physique and explosiveness as a forward. Former Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas also addressed the same on ‘The Right Time with Bomani Jones’ podcast. He also talked about Ja Morant, who, after a lengthy layoff, recently returned to the NBA as if he had never been suspended. Zion, on the other hand, after his injury issues, has been consistently criticized especially due to problems related to his weight.
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A range of analysts have even made fun of the player, while some have come out in support. Arenas has firmly been of the latter category and claimed that there were multiple issues at play. Unlike Ja Morant, whose team was built around him, Zion was forced to share the spotlight with Brandon Ingram.
“With Zion, you have Brandon Ingram where that shares that spotlight. If Brandon Ingram was off that court and it was just Zion, then Zion would be playing the same way. But he has to share the spotlight with another guy,” he said, before delving into the Pelicans’ star’s weight issues.
Arenas also advised Zion to arrive at the NBA in the kind of shape that he had back during his college days, at Duke University.
“Zion really needed to push everything away, he needed to look like Zion at Duke. That’s the Zion he needed to be. Zion at Duke before he blew out of the shoot,”
Arenas said, before talking about a specific Zion Williamson block from college that he made against Elijah Thomas. An airborne Zion can be seen jumping to stop his opponent from scoring, leading to a surreal image that Arenas claimed looks “photoshopped”.
As per the former Memphis Grizzlies, after a little shred, the Pelicans rookie could have become more explosive than Morant, near the rim, “That’s the Zion that needed to come back when he said in the summer, and he lost about 265-270. If he was 265-270, everything we see in Ja we will seeing in Zion at a more explosive rate. But he is all of 310, and I am being nice,” Arenas said.
Obviously, that did not happen. However, had it happened, the Pelicans would have been faring a lot better than 17-12 right now in the season.
Jay Williams recently expressed concern about Zion’s weight issues
Former Bulls star Jay Williams also recently expressed his concern over Zion Williamson’s future. Williams referenced the fact that Zion had made a lot of money via his contract and shoe deal with Air Jordan in the early part of his career.
This worried the ESPN analyst about his future, as Williams suggested that the Pelicans’ prodigy has every reason to party when not playing for his team. This, according to Williams, is bound to have an impact on his fitness even further.
Regardless, even the financials are not safe due to Williamson’s recent struggles. The fact that he played only 29 games last season means that the last three years of his deal are no longer guaranteed by the Pelicans. This, represents a potential loss of $126.5 million, although most people expect Williamson to eventually return to his best.
