Photo Credit: Zion Williamson/Instagram
New Orleans Pelicans player Zion Williams just inked a 5 year contract extension worth a whopping $231 million but it comes with a glaring but. The but is that the 22 year old remain under a certain weight. He has a certain body fat percentage to stay under and he can’t surpass 295 lbs or else the money he makes will decrease. The reason this is happening is because he was the Number One draft pick to the Pelicans in 2019, he’s experienced injury and the big elephant in the room (no pun intended) is that the team has a Zion Williamson problem.
So far Williamson is only 284 lbs and is reportedly training like crazy as well as switching up his diet to get in shape again. A good person to look to for how to deal with this would be Greg Oden. Remember him? He was the Number One draft pick in 2007 and has since been labeled a dud. He gave some advice to Williamson back in 2020 saying “Have fun! Enjoy every minute of it, but also make sure that you’re understanding what’s going on. Make sure that you’re taking advantage of the situation that you’re in. Have meetings with these owners, talk to the mayor of New Orleans and get in those rooms. Build that brand of Zion while you’re the man right now. Really, the biggest thing that I want to say to him is take advantage of this. But have fun. Don’t take yourself or all of this noise too seriously. Enjoy it! Also, realize that you put the work in and you deserve this, and keep on working to get even better.”
