Zion Williamson shined in his NBA debut, but incessant comments about his weight distracted from the sensational performance

ESPN broadcasters Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson critiqued the young star's weight and physical appearance.
NBA fans came to Williamson's defense and created memes based on Van Gundy's and Jackson's comments.
While weight management is undoubtedly important in professional sports, commentary on an individual's physique should never be accepted regardless of the athlete's gender.
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After a more than three-month recovery from a knee injury, Zion Williamson made his long-awaited and highly-anticipated NBA debut Wednesday night.

And in just 18 minutes on the floor, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft proved that he was worth the wait.

Williamson finished the game with a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting and a perfect 4-for-4 clip from beyond the arc. The former Duke standout recovered from a quiet two-point first half with a 17-point surge in three-minutes midway through the fourth quarter that came complete with all four three-pointers and athletic plays that need to be seen to be believed.

Before the hot streak, doubters from Twitter to the broadcast booth were already beginning to voice their critiques of the New Orleans Pelicans' crown jewel.

zion williamson Gerald Herbert/ApImages

And many of those critiques centered on Williamson's weight.

According to an ESPN graphic shared before tip-off, the Spartanburg, South Carolina, native is 6-foot-6 and weighs in at 285 pounds, making him the third-heaviest player currently on an NBA roster. ESPN commentator Mark Jackson spent much of the opening minutes honing in on the big man's physique. Former NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy said Williamson's weight gain from his 44-game hiatus was noticeable. The duo also expressed doubt that Williamson's reported weight of 285 pounds was accurate, given he reportedly gained eight pounds after easing his way back into workouts.

In multiple instances, Jackson stated that the 2019 Wooden Award winner "needs to lose weight."

Concerns about Williamson's longevity in the pros given his size and his outlandish athletic ability had been lingering since well before the Pelicans selected him with the draft's top pick in June. Many argued that losing weight would help him to alleviate unnecessary strain on his joints. When he tore his meniscus during the NBA's Summer League, those concerns mushroomed from rumblings to full-blown condemnations of the New Orleans front office for investing in a "short-lived asset" language that in-and-of-itself is problematic.

As evidenced by his sensational return to the hardwood, Williamson not only recovered from the injury beautifully but he also quite possibly proved himself to be a generational talent with the potential to reinvigorate a struggling franchise. His accolades really can't be overstated, and yet shame-laden comments about his physique persist.

NBA fans on Twitter took notice of Jackson's repeated critiques of Williamson's physicality and, as Twitter users do, took the opportunity to make memes out of the ordeal.

Other people, however, were quick to come to the rookie's defense over his weight.

It's worth noting that being out of shape is not equivalent to being overweight. Stamina and endurance are both clearly correlated with overall physical fitness and, thus, necessarily, with weight. But to blame a player's lethargy on their weight without any concrete information besides appearance is undoubtedly a flawed way to evaluate their fitness on the whole. And while maintaining a certain weight is par for the course in limiting an athlete's risk for injury, crediting weight for a past injury or using a player's size to speculate about the length of their career is not only unfounded but also reckless.

zion williamson Matthew Hinton/AP Images

While our society places considerable emphasis on the impact of body shaming on self-confidence within women, we often tend to abide by a different set of standards when it comes to men. Imagine a situation in which a broadcaster critiqued the weight of a WNBA star based solely on their physical appearance. The backlash would unquestionably be swift and severe.

So how can we justify engaging in this toxic rhetoric when it relates to our male athletes?

Boys and men are not exempt from the potential side effects of body shaming, which can include body dysmorphia, eating disorders, depression, and an increased risk of obesity, according to Healthline . Regardless of their gender, then, viewers of Wednesday night's game could very well have internalized that harmful messaging. If one of the world's most elite athletes is not exempt from criticism of his body, why would they be?

Equality should work in both directions. If we condemn weight-based critiques of female athletes, surely the men of the sports world should be afforded the same treatment. And if a reporter would be lambasted for commenting on a WNBA player's weight, surely Jackson and Van Gundy can spare a moment to consider the weight of their words the next time they're tempted to fat shame a 19-year-old on national television.

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