Zion Williamson shed 25lbs after losing in-season tournament to the LA Lakers, but was the timing not right? At least, former NBA star Charles Barkley believes so. Notably, the conversation on ‘Club Shay Shay‘ started with Barkley’s own story of having excessive weight during college days. And he believes that at this point in life, he can guide this generation to make them avoid the mistakes he made. This can be something as simple as guiding them to take good care of their body.

It was from this point that the conversation led to the discussion on Zion Williamson. Barkley said he likes Zion a lot as the 23-year-old reminds him of himself. “I mean, he’s more explicit. He’s more athletic than you. He’s more athletic, but the sooner he gets in shape, the better he’s gonna be,” the former NBA star said on ‘Club Shay Shay’. However, Charles Barkley does not want Williamson to take this as criticism because he appreciates his talent. And he also acknowledges of hearing Williamson losing about 25 pounds, but he believes Williamson’s timing for this can be improved.

“You can’t get in shape during the season, You get in shape during the summer… You gotta do that during the summer because you got to be ready to go when the season starts,” Barkley said. He again established the fact that how talented and explosive on the court Williamson is. While partly it can be because Williamson actually is all those things, somewhere it can also be because Barkley has already made some comments on Williamson’s weight issue. And the last time such statements came out, they were labeled as ‘harsh’ in the media headlines.

Chalres Barkley’s earlier remarks Zion Williamson and the Pelican star’s reaction to them

It is worth mentioning that remarks by Barkley came during the halftime of the in-season tournament game with Sacramento Kings. Notably, by the half time, Williamson had scored only 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and he ended the game with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists. This performance by Williamson did not go down well with Charles Barkley and he called him out on TNT.

“He’s not in shape, he doesn’t run, he plays the game strictly on talent… kinda jogging on offense and defense. Somebody has got to get a hold of him cause he got so much talent, he’s gonna be somewhat successful… He could be special… He should be the best player and he’s not even close,” Barkley said.

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However, about a week later, Williamson had a good game against Minnesota Timberwolves, where he scored 33 points. After this, he was asked of his opinion of Charles Barkley’s remarks on him. “If it comes from a great place and a place where they just wanna see me do better, thank you. But if it comes from anywhere else, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. Can’t control that,” he replied. Considering the way Charles Barkley has kept his opinion, it can safely be said that it came from a place of concern for a player with potential.