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Reactions To Zion’s Injury

People are kind of going overboard a bit.

By JD King

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New Orleans Pelicans v San Antonio Spurs
SAN ANTONIO, TX - OCTOBER 13: Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans dunks the ball against the San Antonio Spurs during a pre-season game on October 13, 2019 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. 
Photos by Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images

With the news that Zion Williamson has had knee surgery the questions about his weight are back with a vengeance. The best take we’ve seen was Charles Barkley’s, who said that while Williamson doesn't look fat, 285 is going to be stressful.

But clearly Williamson got in great shape over the summer and while Barkley thinks he needs to lose and Doug Gottlieb thinks it’s critical too, here’s a question: what if his body fat is already in single digits?

Look at this picture from last year. Does he look as if he has a weight problem?

Duke has an excellent training and nutrition staff, really cutting edge.

Even so, we’re sure that with a professional team, Williamson has been analyzed to an amazing degree. We really don’t know but would guess that among the things they do (maybe Duke too) are DNA analyses to help build a nutritional profile. It would be individually tailored to the highest levels science can provide.

In other words, what if it’s a problem for Williamson to lose a ton of weight? If he’s already in superb physical condition with low body fat, how much weight could he safely lose?

As we’ve seen before with him in other ways, Williamson pushes into areas that we’ve never seen before. Given the novelty he presents, people shouldn’t rush to judgement.

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