The New Orleans Pelicans were back on TNT’s airwaves on Tuesday night for the first time since they got smoked by the Lakers in the In-Season Tournament semifinals. That loss prompted Shaq and Charles Barkley to call out Zion Williamson (again) for continuing to look out of shape, not running hard, rebounding well enough, and generally underperforming to his immense talents.
Williamson responded to those comments by saying he can’t control what people on the outside say, but if it’s coming from a place where they want what’s best for him, then he says “thank you.” On Tuesday night’s pregame show, Barkley and Shaq made clear that was the case, with Shaq noting “we only criticize guys we believe in” and Chuck saying he wants everyone to be great.
"We only criticize people that we like. We only criticize people that we believe in."
Shaq and Chuck respond to Zion's message about their criticisms pic.twitter.com/tz2rf4KCFB
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 20, 2023
However, the two Hall of Famers didn’t think Williamson’s response was particularly encouraging. Shaq said he wants to see a fire lit under Zion and was hoping to get a more defiant response from him. Instead, Williamson shrugged it off, with O’Neal saying that shows him “he ain’t ready.”
What makes all of this so interesting is that you genuinely could not find two former players that are more equipped to speak from experience on what Williamson is going through with his weight and conditioning. Both Barkley and Shaq took time early in their careers to get their bodies right and learn how to dominate, which is why they’re so hard on Zion — Barkley once quipped Williamson looked like “me and Shaq had a baby.” For years, Barkley has offered to talk with Zion and provide some guidance, but that has not come to fruition in private so he continues to try and harp on it on national television. Shaq, meanwhile, just wants Williamson to take personal offense to it all and use it as motivation to prove everyone wrong and become the dominant player he could be, rather than brushing it all aside.
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/shaq-charles-barkley-zion-williamson-response-criticism-he-aint-ready-video/
