Zion Williamson's commitment to weight loss should scare NBA

According to Yahoo Sports' Ian Casselberry, Williamson told the assembled media at the camp that he plans to weigh 272 pounds in time for the upcoming NBA season. If Williamson stays true to his word, he will enter the 2024-25 season nearly 30 pounds lighter than a year before. 

A 272-pound Williamson attacking the rim ought to be an unstoppable force of nature, but more importantly, the drastic weight loss will help the Duke alum improve his conditioning.

In his five-year NBA career, Williamson has struggled to excel late in games due to apparent poor conditioning, which invariably leads to the Pelicans blowing advantages or failing to stay competitive down the stretch. Furthermore, Williamson's defense, which has never been his strong suit, suffers when he gets fatigued, causing Pelicans coach Willie Green to pull him out of games in clutch moments. 

The wake up call he needed?

The NBA media, specifically ESPN analyst Stephen A Smith, may have inadvertently awoken a monster. 

Smith made derogatory remarks about Williamson after the Pels were hammered by the Lakers in last season's in-season tournament game, saying that Williamson "will eat the table" and that chefs were lining up outside his house to fulfill his cravings.

All that body-shaming motivated Williamson to shed the weight, a process that started in December 2023 and began paying dividends by the end of the 2023-24 season.

"That was definitely a big moment for me," Williamson told NOLA.com after the season. "I didn’t look at anybody else. I looked at myself. I'll take full blame for that. I wasn't where I needed to be."

While Williamson didn't end the season on a victorious note — the Pelicans lost in the play-in game — he impressed a lot of analysts with his 40-point outing that was cut short by a hamstring injury.

Now, Williamson can pick up the pieces and remind the world why he was the most-hyped NBA prospect since LeBron James when he went No. 1 overall to New Orleans in 2019. Seeing as he's been part of the public consciousness for so long, it's easy to forget he's only 24.