Rasheed Wallace on Zion Williamson: 'Big Fella Struggling… It's the Weight Thing'

Rasheed Wallace is the latest former NBA player to speak out on New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson and the subject of his weight.

The former Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons star discussed Williamson's conditioning on Saturday's episode of Sheed & Tyler, tracing it back to the Pelicans star's injury history.

"Good talent but yeah, big fella's struggling," Wallace said. "It's the weight thing. Once he got injured, and it just so happened to be towards a lower extremity....it kept him out for awhile. That's when he put that weight on and it's hard for him to get it off."

Wallace said that it is noticeable when Williamson is on the court and that the extra weight could lead to more injuries in the future.

"I see it when he runs," Wallace said. "When he was at Duke, he was flying down that court. Now, he gotta give me the hop. That tells me there's something wrong."

Williamson is having a solid season statistically, with him averaging 22.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists across 24 games. However, his health has been an issue in the past, with him missing all but 29 games in 2022-23 that caused the final three years of his contract to become non-guaranteed.

His conditioning has also been an area of concern for the Pelicans and Williamson was criticized by Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal for being out of shape.

There is still plenty of time for Williamson to change the narrative around his fitness, but further injury would continue to add to the doubts surrounding the young star.