"I Haven't Felt Like This Since College" - Entering Year 6, Zion Williamson Looks And Sounds Like He's Poised For A Monster Bounce Back Season

Derick E. Hingle. Getty Images.

Now that Media Day has arrived for a handful of teams in the NBA, a lot of what you hear during these sessions is mostly boilerplate PR answers. Everyone is in the best shape of their life, everyone feels like they're about to have a great year, everyone loves the roster and talent etc etc.

This is mostly a time for fans of that team to overdose on both hype and hope, and there's certainly nothing wrong with the level of pandering we see come from the players. That's the whole point of these sessions. 

But sometimes you have a situation where the pandering matches the eye test, and the whole "best shape of my life" routine is not only real, but it could actually be pretty damn impactful. For example, let's have our first look at 2025-26 Zion Williamson

Look, I know we've been led to believe that the only NBA player on Earth who has gotten themselves into shape this offseason is Luka Doncic (maybe you've heard, he's skinny now), but I have to admit I had to do a double-take when I saw Zion come across my timeline today. We'll see what it looks like on the floor, but for now? This has to be the best he's ever looked entering a season right? Admittedly, I am a bit of a Zion apologist. I simply can't quit him. I know the injury history, I know the availability concerns, but at just 25 years old, I haven't been able to sell my stock just yet. If anything, I'm buying more. 

So if he's telling me this is the best he's felt since high school or college, what choice do I have?

Has this blown up in our faces before? Yes. Did I think that when he played 70 games in 2023-24 that we were maybe past his availability/injury issues? Yes. Did we then learn nothing really changed with him only playing 30 games in 2024-25? Also yes.

But you know what? At some point, that day will come, and given how he looked in that presser, why can't it be this season? Sometimes it takes players a few years to start getting serious about their body and their conditioning, and now as Zion enters Year 6, maybe things have finally clicked.

Remember Duke Zion? That guy was must-watch stuff and largely considered the greatest prospect since LeBron

In the NBA, it's been a bit of a mixed bag. When Zion is healthy and on the floor, his production is about as legit as it comes. In 214 career games, he's putting up 24.7/7.2/5.3 on 56% shooting. He's able to dominate all while not even really being a 3PT shooter, which in today's NBA is pretty impressive. You would get flashes of his dominance, and then it would be robbed from us due to some new injury. 

But what if a new "in shape" Zion could give us a world where he doesn't play 30 games in a season? I'm not picky, I'll take the 65 game cutoff as a benchmark. Granted, he's only done that one time in his entire career, but to me, that just tells me he's due. Eventually, the tides will turn….right? And if they hadn't in previous seasons because he was in dogshit shape, and now he's being serious about taking care of his body, why can't that be the case this season?

Having said all that, you do have to remember that the Pelicans as a franchise are most definitely cursed. Every single season, the Injury Curse has its way with their entire roster. Knowing that reality, there's a chance it won't matter how good of shape Zion is currently in. Unless the team has figured out how to break that curse, everyone still might get hurt anyway.

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But for now? I'm in. I'm buying the hype and this new look Zion. Deep down, I know that there's a strong likelihood I get burned again, but as someone who thoroughly enjoys watching Zion play NBA basketbal,l I'm hoping for the best. Pelicans fans deserve a good Zion season both in terms of production and availability. I thought that was going to be 2023-24, but then Zion got hurt in the Play In Game vs the Lakers, so even in his best season as a pro, he still got hurt. Just brutal.