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New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson showed his weight loss on the team’s media day this week after an intense conditioning program during the summer.
“I really felt a shift in my body,” Williamson told journalists. “I haven’t felt like that since college, high school, right where I can go into a gym and I’m doing well.”
He added that the team’s CEO Vice President of Basketball Operations, Joe Dumars, who was hired in April, would hold the star responsible.
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“He wants to hold me responsible, and when he holds me responsible, he will also give me a great responsibility that I am excited about,” Williamson said of Dumar. “I know he wants to hold me to a really high standard and if I slip up or something, I know he will be right there to make sure I get back on the path.”
Zion Williamson participates in the Media Day at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. (Matthew Hinton/Imag images)
Williamson, who enters his seventh season with Pelicans, has maintained a reputation for being one of NBA’s more obese players since joining the league as No. 1 overall election of Duke in 2019 to 2024-25.
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Zion Williamson of New Orleans Pelicans dribbles the ball into the field during the fourth quarter of a game against the Golden State Warriors in Smoothie King Center 4 May 2021 in New Orleans. (Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
The 6-foot-6 Power Forwards coach, Pelican’s director of Performance Daniel Bove, aimed to tackle his swinging weight and consistent damage with the conditioning program this summer.
The program included boxing exercises and exercises run on football fields.
“I really felt a shift in my body,” Williamson said of Bove’s program. “It feels good to feel good.”
NBA Star Zion Williamson in 2022 against 2025 (Getty Images)
Pelican’s -coach Willie Green said the team has been encouraged by the regularity of Williamson’s presence on team headquarters this season.
“I saw his work this summer, his attention to his body, his conditioning,” Green said. “He will be available to his teammates.”
