How to Kill an NBA Career: The Insane Zion Williamson Story

what in the hell is going on with Zion Williamson the word out on Zion Williamson is that he'll eat the table I'm quoting he'll eat the table he's not in shape he doesn't run he plays the game strictly on Talent Zion folks you can see he's put on some pounds man he's got to get that weight off everybody wants Zion to get in shape except Zion it look like me and Shaq had a baby everybody wants Zion to have discipline except Zion you got chefs in New Orleans who love them they're looking for them everybody

every Chef there wants to meet them because they know he'll show up to their restaurant discipline requires you to do your very best when no one else is watching Zion doesn't have discipline no one college basketball Prospect in the 2010s had more hype entering the NBA than Zion Williamson can Zion live up to the LeBron hyp yes he can Zion just continues to be incredible Zion is the most unique athlete I've coached at Duke there's never been an athlete quite like him are you serious compared to Legends like Charles Barkley and LeBron James Zion was

viewed as a generational talent that any team would be blessed to have tanking for Zion was a real thing thing with teams from Phoenix Arizona to New York City clamoring for the number one pick because everyone believed he was the next face of the league there was boundless optimism and little doubt all the right boxes appeared to be checked he was a good kid he had his head screwed on right for the most part he stayed out of injury trouble he was coachable and humble to put it simply the guy was Mr Perfect the chances

of him falling below his Superstar expectations seemed to be slim to none but 6 years later Zion and entire NBA career can be summarized in one word disappointment despite having all of the god-given abilities most athletes dream of Zion has squandered what should have been an electrifying career because he is content with mediocrity he is chosen to indulge in a life of comfort over putting in the Blood Sweat and Tears necessary to become an NBA legend Zion is now in year number six as a pro he has zero all-nba appearances he's missed more than 60%

% of his eligible games due to injuries and he's never even played in a playoff game compare this to someone like LeBron James who made the NBA Finals by year four or Steph Curry who was a Champion by year six or Kevin Durant who made the NBA finals in year five Zion was supposed to take the torch from these Superstars but his career achievements look pathetic in comparison so where did it all go wrong in other words how did Zion Williamson fall off the track to start him in in order to answer these questions we

need to understand that from day one Zion was labeled a prodigy from being 5'9 in 8th grade to 6'3 in 9th Zion quickly realized thanks to his growth spur he could just outrun and out jump everyone so that's exactly what he did by his junior year of high school basketball fans across the country had become quite familiar with the dominant force that was Zion Williamson he averaged 36 points and 11 rebounds per game the poor opponents who had just come out of 8ighth period chemistry class were completely overwhelmed which in turn created some of the

most intertaining viral mixtapes high school ball has ever seen it's no surprise that for college he choose the school with perhaps the most prestigious basketball program in the country Duke before he even stepped foot on the hardwood he was loaded around as a top five Prospect then he went out and became the unanimous Top Dog Zion showed he could continue his Elite play against improved competition and added pressure he averaged 22 points per game on an obscene 68% field goal shooting as the kids would say nowadays his Aura was off the charts he produced countless

highlights from ridiculous fast break dunks to powerful blocks the guy stuffed the stat sheet and broke records here in the highest player efficiency ranking out of any individual player in college basketball history and became the first freshman to ever win the ACC Player of the Year award but even amidst this Excellence there were some cracks beginning to form in the domain of Zion's health no matter what shade of blue you root for this is a special night on the calendar it's time for another installment of the best rivalry in college basketball North Carolina Duke in

a highly anticipated matchup versus North Carolina that had figures like Steph Curry and Barack Obama in attendance just 36 seconds in Zion's foot broke through his Nike sneak and he suffered a knee sprain slipping and injured is Zion Williamson he ended up missing the next six games as a result a puzzling injury that would eily foreshadow Williamson's NBA career one defined by extraordinary talent and immense potential yet repeatedly interrupted by unexpected setbacks it was a warning of what was to come fast forward to the 2019 draft New Orleans was where the Prodigy would land thanks

to the Anthony Davis tra the Pelicans had a plethora of young talent that could grow alongside him it appeared to be the perfect situation in summer league Williamson continued to humiliate his opponents treating them with the same disrespect he showed to those back in his high school dayss ites it oh yeah it's time to get the But like many things with Zion this great experience would be shortlived he didn't play in the second half of this game exiting early due to what was described as a KN to need contact injury this was his one and

only Summer League game in the preseason he was back in healthy playing three games and scoring efficiently while doing so the hype train appeared to be back in station but once it was announced he had suffered a mysterious knee injury that would sideline him for the remainder of the preseason and beyond that train crashed the zman had torn his meniscus and would be out indefinitely it was the first of many major untimely health issues he'd encountered turn in his pro career injuries can happen due to bad luck but in Zion's case the poor way in

which he carried himself his entire life planted the seeds of Destruction look at this footage of him walking in 2019 he's waddling side to side like a penguin his knees are actively pointing inward instead of being straight imagine all the stress this pattern put on his lower body over the years it's no wonder that he's dealt with such crippling knee injuries more than anything else though the elephant in the room is is and always has been his weight it began receiving some flak a few weeks after he was drafted from some prominent voices in the

NBA media I don't think he can play at that weight long extended periods of time at 285 I I just don't believe it 6'6 285 lb is what he weighed entering the NBA making him the second heaviest player after the 7' 4290 boban marianovich he was Mr tubby and this extra lab of weight put incredible amounts of pressure on his lower body when he jumped when he landed and when he ran when guys get hurt at them when they come back you're trying to get in shape right and if you're putting all that stress on

your knees and your feet you're just going to keep getting hurt it's worth pointing out that in the early part of his career his mother was his nutritionist quite a few red flags however those who pointed this out were quickly shushed after all the kid was just 19 he had plenty of time to turn it around he now had access to millions of dollars worth of training equipment chefs and doctors with the right amount of discipline there was no doubt that soon enough Zion would cut off the extra pounds and become the face of the

NBA what could go wrong we welcome you back to Toronto our opening night coverage continues it's for new Wallin cicin and the Toronto Raptors it's the beginning of the 201920 season and one of the most hyped up days abs of an NBA player had to be put on hold what was listed as a 6 to8 we recovery ended up being stretched to 12 weeks until it was finally announced that Williamson would be returning on January 22nd 2020 against the San Antonio Spurs the Zion era begins tonight as Pelicans rookie 19-year-old Zion Williamson makes his long

awaited debut needless to say any question marks surrounding his game were immediately quashed thanks to a spectac acular debut he scored 22 points which included an electric stretch where he scored 17 straight with four threes he had caught fire out of nowhere and had sent a stark reminder to the rest of the league that he was coming from the Shadows to steal their Thunder Zion for four for four welcome to the NBA fun fact his four made threes in this game remain a career high to this day the Pelicans look so dominant with him on

the court that when he was forcefully subbed out for his minutes restriction NBA fans of all kinds groaned in Anger he ended up playing 24 total games in his rookie year being incredibly impactful whenever he was on the floor the Pelicans fiveman lineup that featured Zion ranked number one in the league in net rating everything seemed to be going to plan for the young fellow but once the 2020 bubble arrived the question marks surrounding his conditioning started hitting mainstream news entering the bubble Zion looked quite sluggish in his first game against the Jazz he didn't

record a single rebound for the first time in his career next against the Clippers he scored a career low seven points The Tubby allegations were starting to get loud even worse was his defense which was slow and unengaged he was just lazy out there the once phenomenal net rating with Z had now become a negative the Pelicans were struggling with him on the floor New Orleans expected to crack the playoffs as the e seed had an unceremonious fall going just 2- six and missing the postseason the opportunity for Zion to try and go head-to-head against

King James and the Lakers was [Music] lost despite some drama forming in the cracks Zion sophomore stint was about as impressive as one could hope for he played like a superstar averaging 27 points per game the highest point total of any player in NBA history who shot over 60% from the field in a season these efficient numbers helped him earn his first All-Star appearance becoming the fourth youngest All-Star starter ever she had a stretch of 25 consecutive games with 20 or more points while shooting 50% or better from the field putting him in company with

only Shaq in 2001 as players to ever achiev such a feat towards the end of the season in the last 20 games he turned up the energy averaging 30 points per game but a fractured left ring finger that Williamson suffered against the Warriors while going up for a rebound abruptly ended his Stellar campaign he missed the last six games of the Season which destroyed the Pelicans hopes of reaching the plan David Griffin the team's executive accused the League's officiating of being at fault for this because the injury was an accumulation of uncalled fouls over Zion

over time fingers were pointed everywhere the uncomfortable reality though was that this was only the beginning of the big fella getting hurt in key moments when it mattered most in fact if you had wagered a bet that Zion would get hurt you'd be making dope cuz he just can't stay healthy what better app to bet on it then than my bookie where you're in control of all the action I'll make it easy for you jump in right now and double your first deposit with my promo code Dylan B which gives you a 50% deposit matchup

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my channel and make some bread while you're at it use my promo code Dylan B for a 50% deposit matchup up to $11,000 plus $10 worth of casino chips now where were we at the end of the day Zion sophomore year was a success from year 1 to two his assists had doubled his points per game had jumped and his efficiency had skyrocketed those same doubters who had crept Out of the Shadows a year prior were now back in hiding Zion was a franchise talent and the Pelicans needed to act accordingly that that meant keeping

Zion happy which was reportedly becoming quite the struggle Williamson's family believed the Pelicans organization wasn't respecting him like the star he was the team had traded JJ reck at the 2021 deadline and had let guard Lonzo ball walk both of which Zion disapproved of Zion was also about to be on Coach number three both Alvin Gentry and Stan Van Gundy were a two pack of dog water making it so there was no stability for the young star van gundi had been fired after just one season partly because Zion's family had demanded so they felt he

was too rigid in demanding his head coach the hiring of former player Willie Green as head coach among other free agent signings hoped to cool this fire now entering the 2021-22 season the Pelicans had a real Coach at the helm a solid Supporting Cast and a year three Zion projected to dominate all the cards were lining up for a deep playoff push led by number one but on media day when the hypee for this squad was at its peak a bombshell was dropped that deflated all optimism David Griffin sheepishly announced to the media that Zion

had undergone surgery to repair a broken bone in his right foot it was news that blindsided fans apparently he had privately heard it while working out back in the summer all was okay though we were told he was going to return on opening night then 3 weeks went by and it was announced by Griffin that okay well I never actually said opening night I said for the regular season then a little later in early November 2021 headlines state that Zion is progressing in his recovery but would still sit for another 2 to 3 weeks during

this lull the Zion's fat jokes started making a huge comeback since he was limited in his Mobility due to the injury pound started piling up fast it was rumored that he reached nearly 300 lb 15 more than he weighed at Duke now now the entire Pelican franchise was sweating bullets none of this was part of the plan and they were paying a heavy price for Z's injury opening the year 3 and 16 no signs of a Zion return were on the horizon mid December 2021 arrived and it was announced that the Stars timeline for return

was pushed back another 4 to 6 weeks due to more foot soreness then more photos were released on social media of Zion looking like a fat slob a nightmare was unfolding in real time outside of wait different details were emerging about the horrible teammate Zion was reported as being when the pels made a blockbuster deal trading for Star guard CJ McCullum it was presented as a phenomenal move that was made to help Zion when he'd come back to the court but Williamson never even reached out to CJ to welcome him to the team the most

basic level of professionalism that is to be expected from a star player nearly 2 weeks after being a acquired by New Orleans CJ said that the two hadn't even spoken directly what JJ reck Zion's former teammate ripped him for this claiming that when he was in New Orleans Zion was a detached teammate this was all going on while Williamson was doing all of his rehab in Portland Oregon 2,000 Mi away from where he was supposed to be reportedly his family had grown even more unhappy with the direction the pels were heading in and now they

wanted him to leave for frustration was mounting on all sides even from the good people of New Orleans he was mercilessly roasted at one of the city's marra holiday celebrations being painted as a fat tub of lard that wanted nothing but money and food you know New Orleans is partially the blame for this because they have such damn good food anyway the terrifying thing about all of this was that Zion was trapped his heavy weight added stress to his lower body increasing his chances at injury but since he was already hurt it was EX extremely

difficult for him to lose weight to alleviate the pressure an inescapable spiral of misery he missed the entire 202022 season a back breaker for New Orleans one year after he broke his foot on his 21st birthday on July 6 2021 on July 6 2022 Zion Inked a 5year $231 million contract 193 million of it was guaranteed and the rest could be earned through different Clauses for example Zion would be given more cash the more games he played and he'd lose cash if he failed to pass weighin checkpoints that were scattered throughout the season including such

terms and contracts for Star players is incredibly uncommon in the NBA and it interestingly shows how committed yet worried the Pelicans were about his career Zion though was thrilled as was his family money really do solve everything Williamson made sure to highlight how locked in he was and made the the point that he wasn't going to let down New Orleans now that they gave him this generous birthday gift he backed this talk up the Pelicans had a sensational start to the 2022 23 season while Zion was suiting up for every game and putting up Elite

numbers in December 2022 they went on a terror embarking on a seven game winning streak which included a win against the eventual Champion Denver Nuggets and two wins against the Phoenix Suns a team that had just won 64 games the year before in the first win Zion celebrated the dub with a sick Game ending 360 windmill dunk an incredible moment the Pelicans were not only winning big but they were having fun and making their opponent salty while doing so then in the very next game the Pelican squashed Phoenix's attempt at getting revenge by stealing a

w in overtime Zion dropped a 35 piece in both he was healthy there was no drama his team was winning and he was leading the charge but like many things in the career of Zion Williamson this success was just a flash of Brilliance because just two weeks after this hot stretch he went down with a right hamstring strain while he was simply running up the court somehow this injury ended up sidelining him for the rest of the season at first it healed as expected but in February 2023 he re agravated the injury in practice the

Pelicans unsurprisingly took a major hit with their best player gone going from World beaters to mediocre stumbling into the playin by this point in April big Z was cleared the play physically mentally however he was still hesitating so he chose to sit out the play rather than suiting up and negatively impacting his team on the court New Orleans was immediately knocked out of the playin by OKC ending their season the team that confidently stood at the number one seed in December miss the playoffs come April all thanks to the instability of Zion's Health losing in

the NBA because an opponent out talented you is one thing what's even more frustrating though is losing because of factors outside of your control that's what the Pelicans have had to deal with and it's agonizing because it's so clear that when Zion actually plays they're always one of the better teams in the league this was especially highlighted in the 2023 24 season the year that saw Zion play a career high in games 70 as a result the Pelicans won the most games in the Zion era to that point 40 9 this all sounds good on

paper but it's worth noting that the overarching concerns about Zion's weight remained even though he was healthy in a blowout loss to the Lakers in the inseason tournament semi-finals the contrast between LeBron James who prides himself on taking care of his body and Zion who has the diet of Peter Griffin became especially apparent the 15-year older LBJ who weighed 40 lb less dropped 30 and 3/4 and didn't break a sweat while the younger one was huffing and puffing scoring just 13 Stephen A Smith said he saw a belly on Zion when he went to the

free throw line it was embarrassing ladies and gentlemen I saw a belly like when he took a deep breath his belly bounced that kind of belly Zion was saying all the right things when questioned about this in his postgame interviews mind you but behind closed doors there were reports that he just wasn't listening despite the hardworking veterans the team had brought in over the years like JJ reick and CJ McCullum none of it had made an impact David Griffin literally admitted before the 2023 24 season that the past 2023 summer was the first time Zion

ever took his profession seriously which is funny because I remember the summer of 2023 for Zion for different reasons anyway despite the good numbers and High games played this dude was not in shape he didn't hustle and he was the furthest thing from a winner this this 2023 inseason tournament represented yet another low for him as a player Zion's former trainer even joined the hate bandwagon posting two stories to his Instagram calling out the star for his regression one story reposted the report of Zion not listening with the shrug emoji and the other was of

Zion Looking In Shape a year prior with the caption remember when Zion's old trainer was claiming that whoever was training him now was doing a terrible job coincidentally the Pelicans then fired cion athletic trainer after the season the big fella trudged on after this inseason tournament implosion putting in the work necessary to elevate his game he reportedly dropped 25 lbs in the ensuing months afterwards the Pelicans thus went on a 32 and 19 run in the final 51 games with Zion missing just five games in the stretch Williamson averaged 23 points per game on his

usual high efficiency though he missed out on an All-Star appearance likely due to the bad PR his garbage in season tournament performance gave him it was year five and the most hyped up Prospect in decades had never even played a playoff game compare this to a young LeBron James who by year four had already made the finals and you can see why people were mad the 2024 playoffs were an incredible opportunity for Zion to flip the narrative though at first he sees the moment against the Lakers in the playin Zion went off scoring 40 points

he was grabbing the game by the throat but on a late game bucket against Anthony Davis he came up limping grabbing his hamstring his night was over as was his season the Pelicans were left for dead they lost against La then beat the Sacramento Kings in their second playing game to squeak into the playoffs then got quickly swept by the OKC Thunder Williamson had hoped he returned in the playoffs but he failed to do so because he couldn't pass the physical test necessary he described the injury as demoralizing as it pertains to sports injuries the

hamstring injury is the killer it was an annoying bug Zion couldn't SWAT away and it had now ended his season twice in a row now it was time for Williamson to take his training to the next level the summer of 2024 saw him undergo a new workout regimen one that included running drills five times a week in a high school gym in Little welm Texas he was trying to cut to 270 lb and had reportedly reached 281 4 lb less than his weight at Duke photos came out of him looking in better shape than ever

which reminds me of offseason videos of Ben Simmons training three-pointers like Ben Zion was in an unfortunate cycle piics come out of him looking strong he plays well and the Pelicans win but then he suffers an untimely injury gets fat and all his fans want to die this time though things appeared to be different this weight loss combined with the 70 games he played the year prior made Spectators believed that he was finally on track to lead the pels to the promised land newly acquired the J Dante Murray CJ McCullum herb Jones Brandon Ingram and

Zion Williamson were the starting five for this team many felt this group had the potential to land the franchise their first 50- win season in 16 years then opening night arrived which Zion missed due to an illness a bit deflating especially for the home fans who spent money to see their star only for him to sit out with a stuffy nose who cares though he suited up for the next five games played all right then got hit with hamstring tightness that forced him to miss the next two outings he returned played a game then bam

out in definitely with the hamstring string It's just comically sad at this point the Pelicans have unsurprisingly been left in disarray since this injury Zion's weight has unsurprisingly gone up 10-fold a video on social media surfaced of his new back tattoo and instead of all the comments gassing it up people pointed out how fat he looked it all seems like a tragic story with no good ending right well not exactly it's quite obvious that Zion's consistent weight gain over the years is a clear reflection of his lack of discipline he doesn't take his job seriously

since he was a teenager he's been able to effortlessly score at will against opponents thanks to his god-given strength and size while other players are forced to develop a hard work ethic because they had to claw their way into the league from age 13 everyone in their mama knew Zion was going to make it to the NBA the red carpet was rolled out for him and all he had to do was casually walk to the Finish Line he wasn't drafted because of his legendary mentality or incredible discipline like others he was drafted because he was

blessed with superman-like physical abilities that he took full advantage of why lose weight Zion easily drops 25 a night even though he looks like he just left a New Orleans Buffet he doesn't need to lose weight for money either he already has at least $193 million guaranteed regardless of how heavy he is there's no motivation for him to slim up it's far easier to live a life of comfort instead he may retire falling well short of the gargantuan expectations given to him but who cares he's rich and when he's healthy he plays well enough to

avoid major criticism Nothing Else Matters that's why there's little hope this cycle of Hell will turn around anytime soon for Zan Williamson he's been given plenty of wakeup calls but he's pressed the snooze button each time he belongs in the same category of underachieving NBA talents as Ben Simmons and DeAndre Aon lazy unmotivated and content with the mediocre he doesn't care and why should you unless you're a New Orleans fan of course to which I'd tell you to go to a restaurant and eat some crawfish in memorium of his wasted potential [Music]