Did Zion Williamson gain weight last year? Rumors surrounding power forward explored

Zion Williamson's career has been overshadowed by injuries forcing him to miss 194 games since his NBA debut. This season, he played only 29 out of a possible 82 games. He missed eight games due to various ailments and covid protocols until December before missing the rest of the season after sustaining a hamstring strain against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 2nd.

Many believed his work ethic wasn't right, keeping him off the court and impacting his rehab. However, Zion Williamson gained weight as he couldn't train due to the setback regarding his recovery from foot surgery. Here's what Williamson said about the situation late last year (via Bleacher Report):

"What people don't understand is, even the writers and stuff, if they have children of their own, imagine if somebody talked about their child how they spoke about me."

He continued:

"Critiquing my body, critiquing how I look. Every time they talked about me, it was about weight, how bad I looked. I don't even think they realized what kind of impact that can have on you."

Williamson added:

"I was like: 'Y'all relax. Hearing it from y'all doesn't help me, and it makes it worse for me as a matter of fact.' So, when I broke it down like that, they understood. Once my foot heals, I'll get back on track."

According to his personal chef Johnas Lewis, Williamson cut down 35 pounds between July and September 2022.

"I don't know if I'm supposed to say the number, but I will say this: [He lost] well over 35 pounds, for sure," Lewis said (via Bleacher Report). "We were dropping almost 7-9 pounds a week. By the third week, he started seeing the results. You couldn't pay Zion to put his shirt on."

Zion Williamson entered the 2022-23 NBA season reportedly weighing 284 lbs, so he put on significant weight last year. He hired performance specialist Jasper Bibbs and chef Lewis to prepare him for his return this season.

Click here to read Bleacher Report's article on Zion Williamson's conditioning.

New Orleans Pelicans crash out of playoff contention as Zion Williamson remains sidelined

The New Orleans Pelicans made the playoffs in 2022 without Zion Williamson. They gave the top-seeded Phoenix Suns a run for their money in the first round before losing in six games. Coming into the 2022-23 season, they were expected to be a dominant force as Williamson returned to the lineup.

They started the year hot behind Williamson's MVP-caliber effort. He averaged 26.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game before his injury. The Pelicans were 23-14 at that stage before their season went into a downward spiral.

The Pelicans stayed afloat behind Brandon Ingram's efforts, but Zion Williamson's continued absence hurt the team over the last few games. The Pelicans lost their season finale against the Timberwolves, missing the chance to finish as the sixth, seventh, or eighth seed.

They would've qualified for the playoffs as the sixth seed while receiving multiple opportunities as the seventh or eighth seed in the play-in tournament. Instead, they dropped to ninth and lost to the OKC Thunder in a do-or-die at home, failing to qualify for the playoffs.