Brian Windhorst:Zion Williamson is ‘not close’ to returning

[Duke4life831]

Stan said Zion was around 10 percent fat when he coached him. He has body fat clauses in his contract. He’s not fat, the guys just huge. His genetics are different than yours. He’s got one leg longer than the other and a bunch of injuries from childhood contributing to what we see now. Losing weight is just losing muscle at this point, that’s why it hasn’t happened. The guys not lazy

I don’t want to be a jerk and body shame Zion or anyone else on this board- but

Zion has never been 10% body fat - in any picture you have or have ever seen - is a man at nearly 30% or more body fat. Which is what makes his athleticism so insane.

I again don’t want to shame any of you guys that don’t know but a lot of guys like me are getting their body fat checked frequently - like at least once weekly… people always underestimate other people’s body fat if they are not in the body building world

and I can tell you with personal experience- when I’m at 10% or so you can see the veins in your lower abdominals - - clearly see your 6 pack… and you are in such a caloric deficit that you are typically losing weight or you are on your way back up from below 10%. Because The avg human is healthy and athletic looking at 15%. For a pro athlete- with a great diet - they are around 6-10% body fat.

Example- body builders with surated glutes are around 5-6% and guys on covers of mags are 5-10% - and if you assume Zion is a natty athlete- Zion is probably 25-35%. I of course don’t know with laser like eyes like coach Greg, what Zions true body fat is… but he ain’t 10% - don’t fall for it

Check this for some facts - Jeff C, Jeff N and Coach Greg will set stan straight - because he is so wrong it’s insane

https://youtu.be/JS8RgIDSSwQ

Last point- as long as Zion is human - we all share the same genetics - there are DK Metcalf level freaks but body fat stuff isn’t correlated to his athleticism- being fat and being injured appear to be correlated-

I don’t think Zion is lazy- I think Zion has a issue that he has to work through to have a productive NBA career. I know it’s hard as hell or he would have done it already. Most of the fat guys that hit the gym daily are not lazy- it’s just they either love food more than abs or have higher or lower metabolism - it’s normal for normal guys - but if he wants to complete in nba he has to get over his issues

Spoiler:

personally I can tell you Zion ain’t 10% cause right now I’m sub 10% and I look like a dry leaf and I am 8 weeks from show ready - 10% is so skinny that you look skinny like a meth or crack head or you look ripped- Zion is neither lol

he literally has a clause that says he has to keep his fat + weight at 295 or he loses a shed load of money. again.... generalizing zion to other athletes doesnt make sense because there arent athletes like zion. The pelicans would gladly take that money back if he wasnt hitting those targets when he was playing.

No he doesnt. The only way Zion loses a dime is if the Pels cut him. If Zion is over his weight limit and the Pels cut him, he loses a percentage of his guaranteed money. But we all know there is zero percent chance that the Pels cut him. So no Zion isnt losing money right now.

And yes there is no chance Zion is below 10% body fat right now. Anyone that is 10% body fat is going to look ripped, especially if youre 280+ pounds and below 10%. That is straight up shredded.

[CobraCommander]

I don’t want to be a jerk and body shame Zion or anyone else on this board- but

Zion has never been 10% body fat - in any picture you have or have ever seen - is a man at nearly 30% or more body fat. Which is what makes his athleticism so insane.

I again don’t want to shame any of you guys that don’t know but a lot of guys like me are getting their body fat checked frequently - like at least once weekly… people always underestimate other people’s body fat if they are not in the body building world

and I can tell you with personal experience- when I’m at 10% or so you can see the veins in your lower abdominals - - clearly see your 6 pack… and you are in such a caloric deficit that you are typically losing weight or you are on your way back up from below 10%. Because The avg human is healthy and athletic looking at 15%. For a pro athlete- with a great diet - they are around 6-10% body fat.

Example- body builders with surated glutes are around 5-6% and guys on covers of mags are 5-10% - and if you assume Zion is a natty athlete- Zion is probably 25-35%. I of course don’t know with laser like eyes like coach Greg, what Zions true body fat is… but he ain’t 10% - don’t fall for it

Check this for some facts - Jeff C, Jeff N and Coach Greg will set stan straight - because he is so wrong it’s insane

https://youtu.be/JS8RgIDSSwQ

Last point- as long as Zion is human - we all share the same genetics - there are DK Metcalf level freaks but body fat stuff isn’t correlated to his athleticism- being fat and being injured appear to be correlated-

I don’t think Zion is lazy- I think Zion has a issue that he has to work through to have a productive NBA career. I know it’s hard as hell or he would have done it already. Most of the fat guys that hit the gym daily are not lazy- it’s just they either love food more than abs or have higher or lower metabolism - it’s normal for normal guys - but if he wants to complete in nba he has to get over his issues

Spoiler:

personally I can tell you Zion ain’t 10% cause right now I’m sub 10% and I look like a dry leaf and I am 8 weeks from show ready - 10% is so skinny that you look skinny like a meth or crack head or you look ripped- Zion is neither lol

he literally has a clause that says he has to keep his fat + weight at 295 or he loses a shed load of money. again.... generalizing zion to other athletes doesnt make sense because there arent athletes like zion. The pelicans would gladly take that money back if he wasnt hitting those targets when he was playing.

No he doesnt. The only way Zion loses a dime is if the Pels cut him. If Zion is over his weight limit and the Pels cut him, he loses a percentage of his guaranteed money. But we all know there is zero percent chance that the Pels cut him. So no Zion isnt losing money right now.

And yes there is no chance Zion is below 10% body fat right now. Anyone that is 10% body fat is going to look ripped, especially if youre 280+ pounds and below 10%. That is straight up shredded.

They would be testing Zion for Tren!

I can’t lie, I would like to see Zion ball at 6’5 280 at 10%- it would be like a skinny Ronnie Coleman dunking on fools-

[ItsDanger]

2.5 months for a typical hamstring injury suggests Zion will always have some kind of injury issue. I'd guess its due to body type and his explosiveness. Just too much stress on his body. Solution? Don't have one.

[lambchop]

Zion's not dropping to 225 so stop saying that. A realistic target would be 250-260. He was 275 coming out of high school for christ sake and they say he's been 280-285 this season
Naji Marshall is 220 and 6'7 for comparison. Zion never had his body frame

Yea Kobe was 6'6 212bs, Josh hart is 6'5 215. So If Zion dropped to 225, he'd probably be on his way out of the league, unless he adds some incredible skillset. Zion at 225 would be "so weak" physically that he would live solely off his jumping ability. That's just not gonna happen. He could still train hard for a couple of years and become or professional dunker or try some of the Olympic jumping disciplines.

So if Zion was 225 he would on his way out the league? But isn’t Zion at 260 on his way out the league?

I’m not disagreeing with you that he wouldn’t be the bull in the China shop player anymore- but what’s happening now isn’t working…obviously

What I'm saying is that his game probably improves with more weight, while his availability suffers. However, if he drops below a certain weight, I just can't see him dominating with his skill. At 225lbs basically every SF in the league would be able to defend him. What makes Zion a tough matchup is that he's waaay too quick for PFs and Cs and on top of that is really heavy and strong which means that SFs and SGs can't deal with him at all. But I do agree that it would extend his pro career, though it would be the end of his stardom.

[CobraCommander]

Yea Kobe was 6'6 212bs, Josh hart is 6'5 215. So If Zion dropped to 225, he'd probably be on his way out of the league, unless he adds some incredible skillset. Zion at 225 would be "so weak" physically that he would live solely off his jumping ability. That's just not gonna happen. He could still train hard for a couple of years and become or professional dunker or try some of the Olympic jumping disciplines.

So if Zion was 225 he would on his way out the league? But isn’t Zion at 260 on his way out the league?

I’m not disagreeing with you that he wouldn’t be the bull in the China shop player anymore- but what’s happening now isn’t working…obviously

What I'm saying is that his game probably improves with more weight, while his availability suffers. However, if he drops below a certain weight, I just can't see him dominating with his skill. At 225lbs basically every SF in the league would be able to defend him. What makes Zion a tough matchup is that he's waaay too quick for PFs and Cs and on top of that is really heavy and strong which means that SFs and SGs can't deal with him at all. But I do agree that it would extend his pro career, though it would be the end of his stardom.

Right- he would be another SF with a longer career.

In just a pure basketball sense it’s interesting to see Zion deal with his weight and health issues in a public forum. I’m sure everyone around Zion knows his size matched with his athleticism is what makes him special. So while they want him on the court they know at 225 he wouldn’t be special. So what do you do if you the pels ? Do you diet him down to 250 and no lower because that’s the sweet spot for “special Zion” or do you help him get to 225 and lose “special Zion” but have Zion out there more than 40
Games a year?

Also is it his weight or is it a Kawhi or AD type situation- where Zion isn’t built for 82 plus the playoffs - ?

One thing for certain- I don’t want anyone to think I don’t like Zion. Zion seems like a great guy and I want the best for him. He is exciting and plays winning ball.

[lambchop]

So if Zion was 225 he would on his way out the league? But isn’t Zion at 260 on his way out the league?

I’m not disagreeing with you that he wouldn’t be the bull in the China shop player anymore- but what’s happening now isn’t working…obviously

What I'm saying is that his game probably improves with more weight, while his availability suffers. However, if he drops below a certain weight, I just can't see him dominating with his skill. At 225lbs basically every SF in the league would be able to defend him. What makes Zion a tough matchup is that he's waaay too quick for PFs and Cs and on top of that is really heavy and strong which means that SFs and SGs can't deal with him at all. But I do agree that it would extend his pro career, though it would be the end of his stardom.

Right- he would be another SF with a longer career.

In just a pure basketball sense it’s interesting to see Zion deal with his weight and health issues in a public forum. I’m sure everyone around Zion knows his size matched with his athleticism is what makes him special. So while they want him on the court they know at 225 he wouldn’t be special. So what do you do if you the pels ? Do you diet him down to 250 and no lower because that’s the sweet spot for “special Zion” or do you help him get to 225 and lose “special Zion” but have Zion out there more than 40
Games a year?

Also is it his weight or is it a Kawhi or AD type situation- where Zion isn’t built for 82 plus the playoffs - ?

One thing for certain- I don’t want anyone to think I don’t like Zion. Zion seems like a great guy and I want the best for him. He is exciting and plays winning ball.

Yea that sounds like a reasonable thought process right there. I can remember early on in Bradley Beal's career he had multiple stress reactions in his leg and they said they were gonna set a minutes restriction for the rest of his career. His body ended up being able to handle the load of being an NBA star after adapting over time.

Maybe, just maybe Zion could end up becoming more durable in a couple of years, if he starts off by playing 20-25 mpg for one or two seasons. Obviously not optimal for the Pels and would mean they'd need to find another 1st option, but Zion would be the hands down best 6th man in the league in that role.

[aminiaturebuddha]

Imagine Rj and Garland end up being the best from that class because Zion ends up missing 75 games a season and Ja serving 75 to life

Zion and Ja are definitely more impactful players when they're on the court, but it may be even more likely than not at this point that RJ actually ends up higher on the all-time scoring lists when their careers are over, just because he'll probably play longer and be more consistent.

It'll be interesting to see which of the three end up with more team success in the end.

[RHODEY]

Zion's not dropping to 225 so stop saying that. A realistic target would be 250-260. He was 275 coming out of high school for christ sake and they say he's been 280-285 this season
Naji Marshall is 220 and 6'7 for comparison. Zion never had his body frame

Yea Kobe was 6'6 212bs, Josh hart is 6'5 215. So If Zion dropped to 225, he'd probably be on his way out of the league, unless he adds some incredible skillset. Zion at 225 would be "so weak" physically that he would live solely off his jumping ability. That's just not gonna happen. He could still train hard for a couple of years and become or professional dunker or try some of the Olympic jumping disciplines.

So if Zion was 225 he would on his way out the league? But isn’t Zion at 260 on his way out the league?

I’m not disagreeing with you that he wouldn’t be the bull in the China shop player anymore- but what’s happening now isn’t working…obviously

Is he only 260 right now? I thought he was 275-280.