NBA star looks unrecognisable after showing off | NBA News

New Orleans Pelicans sensation Zion Williamson has left supporters speechless after unveiling his remodeled physique at media day forward of the 2025-26 NBA marketing campaign. Williamson appeared to have shed important weight prior to last season, though he managed just 30 appearances for the Pelicans following a left hamstring injury. New Orleans also imposed a one-match ban on Williamson after head coach Willie Green turned exasperated with his strategy.

Nevertheless, Williamson is eyeing a resurgent marketing campaign and has approached off-season training with utmost dedication. “I haven’t felt like this since college, high school,” Williamson declared at media day. “Where I can walk in the gym and I feel good.”

Williamson is embarking upon his seventh NBA marketing campaign since being chosen first general by the Pelicans in 2019. The former Duke standout has managed merely 36 matches per season on average since becoming a member of the league, with numerous components contributing to restricted court time.

The 25-year-old has battled fitness setbacks and had his weight and conditioning questioned throughout his skilled journey. However, following the Pelicans’ appointment of Joe Dumars as government vice president for basketball operations in April, Williamson appears to be approaching the upcoming season with better dedication than beforehand.

Dumars insisted that Williamson has skilled a “great” off-season and has been holding him accountable for earlier fitness considerations. Williamson’s metamorphosis has captivated Pelicans colleague Trey Murphy III, who remarked he was “slimmer than I have ever seen him during the summertime.”

“I like Joe. What you see is what you get,” Williamson said of Dumars.

“He’s going to hold me accountable, and as he holds me accountable, he’s going to give me a lot of responsibilities as well.

“I’m excited for it and I look ahead to it. I do know he is going to maintain me to a actually high normal and if I slip up or something, I do know he is going to be proper there to make sure I get proper back on path.”

Rather than taking Dumars’ guidance personally, Williamson has used it as motivation for the season ahead. “It helped a lot that they believed in me,” Williamson added.

Despite Williamson’s transformation, the Pelicans aren’t expected to be a threat next season. However, Williamson believes that Dumars has lifted the mood inside the facility and is keen to prove critics wrong.

“I like the composition of this staff,” Williamson added. “There was a time when I felt like Trey (Murphy), where I stored tabs on it, stored notes on it. But nah, that’s in the past for me.

“How I feel on it now? Whatever you said at that certain time, when we are in a certain position, you just got to stay over there. There’s no coming over here, don’t want validation.

“You do not even have to waste your time and say, ‘Them guys actually did it.’ I do not care. You just acquired to keep over there.”

This article first appeared on Mirror US.