Finally, a promising update on the health of Zion Williamson

When you’re a fan of the New Orleans Pelicans in 2023, one of the things that looms largest in your mind is the health of star forward Zion Williamson.

And quite frankly, how could it not? When he’s right, the Pelicans look like true contenders. They were 23-14 last year before he went down with a hamstring injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season. After he went down, they stumbled through the rest of the regular season, finishing with a 42-40 record and losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first play-in game.

That makes sense, right? The great player plays, and the team does good. When the great player doesn’t play, the team does bad. Pretty cut and dry.

But the thing about Williamson is that he has a tendency of getting hurt. You’ve surely heard this before, but over the last four seasons (the only four years Williamson has been in the NBA) he has only appeared in 114 of the 308 regular season games (37%) he’s been eligible to play in. On top of that, he’s also missed all of the nine play-in/playoff games the Pelicans have been a part of during that time.

So, yeah, Williamson’s health status matters more than your average star player. And if these photos are any indication, his health is trending in the right direction.

On Friday, the team released some workout photos of some of the players putting in some work during the off-season. Here are some of the ones of Williamson that were shared.

Now, I personally have never been one to call Williamson out of shape. I understand that his weight has hindered his on-court availability. But it is crazy to me that so many people (people that are undoubtedly in worse shape than Williamson) are so vicious about it.

With that said, even with my already positive view of Williamson’s physique, I was massively impressed by these photographs. He has said in recent interviews that he is taking his health more seriously, and you can definitely tell when you look at those pictures. I mean, just look at those bicep veins!

Now, we can’t get too ahead of ourselves with these photos. A ton of athletes in the past have released similar content only to disappoint in the regular season. But for a player who has had as many questions surrounding his health as Williamson, this is surely a step in the right direction.