Zion Williamson is one of the best young talents in the league, and he is currently having a solid year despite missing the entirety of last year with a foot injury. He is currently averaging 22.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG, and 3.7 APG for the New Orleans Pelicans.
During the time that Zion Williamson was injured last season, he was the target of a lot of criticism for his weight. In fact, there was even a parade float that mocked his weight in New Orleans. However, since then, Zion Williamson has gotten in the best possible shape and is currently trying to help the New Orleans Pelicans make the playoffs once again.
When speaking to Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports, Zion Williamson opened up on the consistent “weight jokes” that people targeted at him. He pointed out that people don’t even realize “what kind of impact” the consistent weight criticism can have on a person.
It was devastating for Williamson, who was selected as the No. 1 overall pick by New Orleans in the 2019 draft and was projected to become an MVP-caliber player, but instead was reduced to being a magnet for cruel weight jokes.
“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 last week. “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.”
The criticism about Zion Williamson’s weight has definitely died down this year, though you can still see some malicious comments about that subject from time to time. Hopefully, we see Zion Williamson continue shutting the haters up with his play this season.
Zion Williamson Wants To Achieve Something Special With The Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are 5-4 through 9 games, but the team is definitely better than their record. Many viewed them as a potential dark horse contender for this season based on the fact that they’d be adding a healthy Zion Williamson to a roster that made the playoffs. Prior to the season, Zion Williamson notably claimed that he wanted to achieve something special with the team.
“I think we have a very special group,” Williamson said. “I think everybody saw that last year. Great group of guys. Everybody wants to see each other succeed.”
“It’s great to see that,” Williamson said. “I know for me, my first three years, it was always a different cast of guys. To see some vet guys stay around and build something special here, it means a lot. Last season after the final game, I just wanted to be part of something special. Seeing CJ, Larry, some of the other guys stick around, I’m excited for the process.”
If Zion Williamson gets back to the level that he showed during the 2020-21 season, then the New Orleans Pelicans could potentially get far in the playoffs this year. Some have even suggested that they can make the Finals.
It remains to be seen how well Zion Williamson plays for the rest of the season. He has been solid thus far, and if he hits another gear later on, then we could be looking at the Pelicans as a potential championship-winning team.
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