Zion Williamson on dealing with fat-shaming during his injury: 'That's nasty' / News - Basketnews.com

Zion Williamson recently opened up on the criticism he received for gaining a lot of weight during the time he was out with injury.

Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert Credit AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

From being the greatest draft prospect since LeBron James and averaging 27 points per game in just his second season, to being the target of body shaming, Zion Williamson has gone through a lot.

Zion Williamson

Team:New Orleans PelicansPosition:SF, PFAge:22Height:201 cmWeight:129 kgBirth place:North Carolina, United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

The No.1 draft pick in the 2019 class was all over the headlines for his on-court achievements and unreal potential. His broken foot injury in 2021 changed the story of his career but even better was Zion's comeback to the league.

The Pelicans' big man opened up about his struggles with the foot injury and everything that came with it. He talked about the days when the media projected him as fat, lazy, and a failure.

"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.

He added, "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."

Zion was projected to become an MVP-caliber player, but instead was reduced to being a magnet for cruel weight jokes. Williamson's weight increased since he was unable to play basketball or perform fitness exercises.

Talking about his weight gain in the offseason and struggles, Zion said, "That's nasty because with a lower-body injury, that dictates how you walk, that dictates how you run, how you do everyday activities and how you move.

For the world to critique me like that and all I was trying to do was make sure my foot was straight? It was a lot. I'm not going to lie to you, it was a lot."

Zion silenced questions about whether he could lose weight by showing up to training camp with a significantly slimmed-down frame. And he immediately shushed those doubting whether he could be great again with a 25-point, 9-rebound performance in his regular-season debut against the Brooklyn Nets last month.

Williamson's mother and stepfather were well-meaning, but they'd sometimes read articles that concerned them and then call their son asking him about his progress, which only further stressed him out.

"I was like, 'Y'all relax, hearing it from y'all doesn't help me and it makes it worse for me as a matter of fact," Williamson said. "So, when I broke it down like that, they understood. Once my foot heals, I'll get back on track."

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