Why Zion Williamson Will Still Be Historically Great

Zion Williamson’s Future Success

There’s been some bumps and bruises in Zion’s first few years in the league. After an injury kept him out the first few months of his rookie year, Zion played one healthy season before suffering another injury that would keep him out of the entire 2021–22 season. What people of the internet like to take note of even more is the weight that he has apparently gained in his time off from basketball (which is all speculation from talking heads online, of course).

In fairness, there’s no denying Zion has missed a lot of time. It’s disappointing to see the biggest (Literally! But in a good way!) and most hyped prospect since Lebron James suffer two significant career injuries at just 21 years old. However, there is still plenty of reason to have faith he will become the superstar he was born to be. In fact, there’s a lot of evidence.

Unfortunately, it’s just too funny not to joke about everything that’s going on with him off the court, which is blinding everyone of the excellence he’s shown us he has.

A Quick Reminder

Before we jump into his weight and injury problems, let us stroll down memory lane to jog our memory of how ridiculous Zion has been in the NBA already.

Debut

Zion, from day one, was a dominant force in the NBA and a wrecking ball that could not be stopped at the rim. In case you forget, Zion’s return from injury in his rookie year happened on January 22, 2022, against the Spurs, when the entire NBA world had an appointment viewing with their TV to watch the prodigy’s first professional game.

After a slow start, Zion starting feasting where superstars feast best (Get it? Feast?), the fourth quarter. The Spurs had absolutely no answer for Zion in the fourth, as the 19-year-old rookie who had never stepped into an NBA game before erupted for 17 points on 6/8 shooting and 4/4 from 3. All eyes were on him that night, and he certainly put on a show as superstars do when the lights are on.

Zion would finish the game with 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. There are not many players in this league that can put those stats up on any given night, let alone a rookie in their debut. Another note on this game, this was in the midst of the season. Everyone else had been playing NBA games for months. It’s hard to step onto an NBA court from injury and be good right away, the main reason being that it takes awhile to get back into shape. How ironic that it didn’t matter for Zion that night.

Toe-to-Toe with The King

Zion’s first game against Lebron James was nationally televised. Can’t miss TV at its best. Zion was still the biggest buzz around the NBA at the time, and Lebron was Lebron. Again, when all eyes were on him, Zion would put on an absolute show with King James.

Zion finished with 29 points, 6 boards, and 3 assists , with a few flashy alley-oop dunks to go with it. If you don’t remember this game, do yourself a favor and watch the highlights.

In Zion’s second game against the Lakers, he’d throw up 35 points on 75% shooting while outscoring the King. Not many 19-year-olds can go basket for basket with Lebron James. This all goes to show how Zion was born to play basketball.

Year Two

NBA fans seem to forget Zion Williamson started in an All-Star game and damn near got an All-NBA selection in his first and only full season. At 20 years old, he averaged 27 points per game on 61 percent shooting. Here’s a list of players to do that:

1. Zion Williamson
2. No one else

Zion is technically responsible for the most efficient scoring season in the history of the NBA at 20 years old. The man was, to simply put it, unstoppable. Zion would have been the youngest player ever to be selected to an All-NBA team if Julius Randle played for any other NBA franchise besides the Knicks.

Injuries and Weight Concerns

With all that being said, it’s very fair to be uneasy about the significant injuries Zion has already had in his career. Many people attribute this to his weight gaining problems plus his jumping ability, calling it destiny for him to get hurt at some point. What I say back to that is this:

1. Zion Williamson came into the NBA 285 pounds. At the time, this was the second heaviest player in the NBA behind Boban Marjanović. Weighing that much certainly did not stop him from playing like a superstar. And who are you to sit on your couch saying he weighs too much when he’s using his weight to average 27 points a game in the best basketball league in the world.
2. Using his weight to his advantage is precisely what he did. From the minute he came into the league, it was pretty clear Zion was not the same jump out of the building player he was at Duke and in high school. Yes, I’m sure he still can do it if he pleases, but those kinds of chances just don’t come as much in the NBA when the defenses are 100 times better than they are in college. Zion played bully ball to dominate the floor. He would one-two step his way to the rim, everyone would bounce off of him because he’s stronger than 95% of the league, and he would lay it up.
3. He was injured this season with a foot injury… For all you folks that work out regularly, if you injured your foot and couldn’t walk on it, wouldn’t that prevent you from working out, affecting your ability to stay in shape? Don’t you think you might naturally gain some weight if you suddenly stopped your workout habits?

It was reported that Zion wanted to come back towards the end of the regular season, but the Pelicans assured him they were not going to bring him back to finish the year, and why would they? You have a 20-year-old generational star on your team, so why bring him back if it means he could re-injure his foot.

Therefore, don’t you think this Summer leading up to the season, Zion will naturally get back into shape as he’s on his feet more in preparation for the NBA year. Seems like common sense to me.

Plus, it’s all speculation from the Twitter folks that he gained weight anyway. 75% of people coming up with this narrative are people on their couch eating Doritos as we speak. Not to mention every single young star in the history of the NBA gains weight in their first five years because they are turning from boys to men. Look at Lebron in ’04 vs. him in ’13 or Jayson Tatum in ’17 vs. him now.

The injury concern is granted, but the weight concern is ridiculous. And let me remind you of another player who had a worse injury situation than Zion to start his career, one of the best players in the NBA.

Joel Embiid missed his entire first two seasons in the NBA after breaking his foot. He only played 31 games in his third season due to more injuries. Joel was labeled out of shape, overweight, and had a reputation for not caring about his body enough to play basketball. As we all know, he just finished runner-up in the MVP award.

We have the best trainers in the world in 2022. There’s no doubt if Zion thinks there’s a problem with his body and wants to address it, it will be fixed.

Zion was born to play basketball, and that’s what he will continue to do for the next decade. He will, and already proved to be, a force to be reckoned with in this league. Zion won’t just be a good or great player in this league; he’ll be one of the best.

The future is bright for the Pelicans with Zion, Ingram, McCollum, and even Herb Jones. They’ll be in the midst of everything in a loaded Western Conference next season.