Zion Williamson Speaks Out On The Struggles That Comes With Being Overweight

At the time of his draft, Zion Williamson was one of the most anticipated athletes. The athlete was likened to LeBron James and Magic Johnson even before he set foot on the floor.

Zion Williamson Speaks Out On The Struggles That Comes With Being Overweight

Williamson is, it’s fair to say, a long way from what admirers and analysts had anticipated of him. His battle with ailments, the root of which was his weight, has been the main cause of this.

The No. 1 overall choice in the 2019 draft, a 23-year-old who played for the New Orleans Pelicans for four seasons, has played in just 114 regular-season games.

Williamson struggled greatly with injuries throughout the Pelicans’ most recent season, which prevented him from having a meaningful effect. Sadly, he was unable to take part in 53 games, which reduced his total value to the club. Additionally, the guy missed the entire prior season owing to one of his ailments.

Zion Williamson, who is officially 2.01m tall and weighs 128.8kg, is frank about his struggles with eating well and maintaining an active lifestyle.

“It’s hard, man,” Williamson said. “I’m 20, 22, have all the money in the world — well, it feels like all the money in the world. It’s hard,” Williamson acknowledged on the ‘Gil’s Arena’ podcast when asked about eating healthy food to stay in shape.

“I’m at that point now, because of certain things, I’m putting back the wisdom around me. I don’t want to say older because they get defensive, but I’m putting people around me with wisdom. Put me on game to certain things. And just go from there.”

On the NBA’s Sirius XM Podcasting May, Charles Barkley talked about his personal troubles and compared them to those of Zion Williamson. Barkley started off by saying, ” You see what’s going on down in New Orleans with Zion. I wish Zion had a vet on the team or like a coach who could say, ‘Yo, man, you gotta get in shape. You can’t play basketball at your weight.

Barkley then drew a parallel with his own career as he said, “I was so blessed and fortunate that Moses (Malone) told me, ‘Chuck, son, you fat and you lazy.’” He added, “And I did what any grown man would do, I went to my condo and cried like a little woman … and then Moses said, ‘If you want to get in shape, I’ll help you get in shape.’ And he helped me lose 50 pounds.”

If his weight and body fat percentage total up to more than 133 kg, the Pelicans’ 231 million dollar deal has a provision that will punish him.

“Like [former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski] taught me, I have to own up to my responsibilities,” Williamson said. “There are a lot of things I could have done better. I didn’t. I’m in the process of fixing those wrongs.”

“I’m a hooper,” Williamson said. “When I’m sitting on the sidelines watching my teammates in certain games they’re losing, I know if I was out there, I could change the outcome.

“What I want people to know about me is I just want to hoop. I want to be out there. Nobody wants to just sit on the sideline. I think that’s what I want people to understand. I don’t want to be on the sideline. Y’all think I want to sit over there hurt? I don’t.”

Enough of excuses. It’s high time that Zion Williamson needs to cut down his weight or else his career NBA is pretty much doomed!

 

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