“It looked like me and Shaq had a baby" - Charles Barkley gives a sharply-worded take on Zion Williamson's apparent weight

The basketball world has continued to anxiously await the anticipated return of New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson. Since the 21-year-old forward entered the NBA in 2019 he's been one of the most exciting young players in the entire league. Williamson has a rare combination of strength and explosiveness that makes him a dangerous threat to opponents on a nightly basis. But basketball fans haven't been able to see Williamson this year, as he's yet to play in an NBA game.

During the offseason, it was announced that Zion Williamson suffered an ankle injury that required the talented forward to undergo surgery. Since then, Williamson has been unable to work on his conditioning and rumors of massive weight gain have started to surface. Those rumors echoed even louder when a recent clip of Williamson working out before a game was revealed to the public. In the clip, the Pelicans forward looks to have gained a noticeable amount of weight. When asked about it last night on TNT's Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley didn't hold back his honest opinion about the clip.

"It look like me and Shaq had a baby."

Although the quote is sure to draw up plenty of attention in the media, Barkley went on to give a serious approach to the situation, comparing it to something he personally had to deal with during his young career in the NBA.

“I’m concerned, I am really concerned about … I tell this story, and I’m being critical, it is what it is.”

“Moses Malone said to me, he said I was fat and lazy, and I started to cry a little bit.”

As Barkley went further in-depth about his story from earlier in his career, he went on to tie the entire conversation together, bringing it back to why it should be so important to a player like Zion Williamson.

“Somebody’s got to be a grown person down in that relationship and say, ‘Yo, man, you got to get in shape.’”

The harsh truth from the entire Zion Williamson situation is that this has been an issue going back to his days of a high school phenom. There were always speculating rumors that Williamson had struggled with weight gain issues throughout his young basketball career, and it looks as if that issue is coming back again. Barkley talked about how a young player like Zion has already had a number of issues with his lower body and how that additional weight won't do anything to help him moving forward.

The Pelicans have continued to say that Williamson is going to undergo another set of scans in two to three weeks that will determine if he can progress to 5-on-5 work. That will be the last step that Williamson needs to cross before he can return to game action. The noise keeps getting louder around Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans, as it looks as if Williamson is going to need to get himself back in shape before he can find himself fit for a return to the court.

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