The New Orleans Pelicans and their fans have heard it all when it comes to Zion Williamson. They've endured lofty expectations hoisted upon their franchise player. He was heralded as the next face of the NBA before he even stepped foot on a professional court.
They've also seen plenty of talk about Zion eventually leaving the team. Before he could even finish his first season with the Pelicans, talking heads and fans of opposing teams were already drumming up noise about how Big Z would eventually want out of New Orleans in favor of a larger market instead.
And, of course, Zion and the Pelicans' faithful have dealt with endless criticism. Since he entered the league, Williamson has undoubtedly been one of the most scrutinized players in the NBA. Some of it has been warranted, but most of it hasn't. He's especially targeted by the national media: the talking heads who spend more time crafting rage bait than actually analyzing the sport. Recently, Zion Williamson caught some undeserved flak from two of the game's most celebrated pundits: ESPN's Stephen A. Smith and FS1's Shannon Sharpe.
Zion Williamson's name is dragged over the coals by the national media
Earlier this month, Zion Williamson was late for the Pelicans' team flight ahead of their clash with the Philadelphia 76ers. As a result, he was sentenced to a one-game suspension for a "violation of team policies."
It was reported that the flight might have just been the straw that broke the camel's back, as there have been repeat problems with Zion's behavior behind the scenes. Beyond that, we haven't received any specifics about what other team policies he's violated.
He came out and made a statement alongside David Griffin addressing the incident and his suspension, with both of them saying typical, PR-trained banalities. Even though both Zion and the team said what they were supposed to and the only concrete misconduct we know of was his tardiness for the flight, some of the national media took it upon themselves to weigh in on how grave Zion's infraction really was.
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith surmised that Zion was simply acting out because — stop me if you've heard this one before — he doesn't want to play for the Pelicans anymore!
"You look at Zion Williamson right now, it's becoming a joke. You know that this brother has got superstar written all over him as a talent, but he doesn't appear to care enough about being a professional and he certainly, I don't believe, wants to be in New Orleans. I think he wants out, I think that's what this is all about and I think he'd rather be someplace else. But why should anybody want him if this is what you're going to get?"
It's true that being late for a team flight is unprofessional, but it shouldn't be a condemnation on a grand scale like SAS made it out to be. I myself have missed two flights because I got to the airport too late. This insinuation that Zion is no longer committed to the Pelicans and is purposefully slacking off to get out of New Orleans is ludicrous and completely ignores the work he put in to get into the best shape of his life over the summer.
Stephen A. wasn't the only talking head to disregard Zion's offseason glow-up. Apparently, FS1's Shannon Sharpe hasn't seen anything of Zion Williamson in a long, long time, considering that Sharpe is still firing off tired and baseless "Zion's fat" jokes in the year 2025:
"See, everybody keeps saying, Stephen A, you mentioned it, 'Zion needs a change of scenery.' Change of scenery? No, he needs a change of eatery! top going and eating everything you see, bro. That's embarrassing. It is embarrassing that we're still having this conversation."
No, Shannon. It's embarrassing that you're still having that conversation after Big Z clearly slimmed down. If they want to give him flak for missing the team flight? Fine. If they want to condemn his inability to stay on the court? That's perfectly reasonable. But to continually retread the same baseless talking points over and over again is simply a discouraging reflection on the horrible state of our mainstream media today.