Mr. MacPhisto
Lapsed Point Guard
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Messages
- 2,039
- Reaction score
- 2,051
- Points
- 113
- Zion is not ripped, but he’s not far from it. he clearly has a physique that can add pounds of any sort, very easily. He’s probably on PED’s, like most pro athletes, but I don’t care about that.
- Does anyone really see Zion getting fat and lazy? I guess it’s always possible but he seems to have a real passion for the game when he’s on the court. Seeing his reaction to going to New Orleans may be a cause for concern when paired with Cajun food, but again, who knows? To maintain his moderate BF%, he probably eats quite a bit or at least isn’t fond of cardio when he isn’t playing. I’d be pretty concerned about him ballooning IF he suffered a catastrophic injury like an ACL.
- I’ve been saying it for months, but there’s something odd about his gait. I’d have him run on one of those gait analysis machines to see how he’s loading his kinetic chain. I’m guessing it wouldn’t manifest until he’s older, but it’s good to know.
- He’s like LeBron in that he doesn’t really valgus knees. It’s one of the reasons LeBron has never suffered a major knee injury. Most NBA players are explosive but simultaneously weak in some areas, which can lead to injury. Zion looks strong and explosive in the legs. I haven’t looked at his landing technique closely
The real concern on Zion is injury. There's a lot of healthy debate on someone his size carrying 285 lbs even if it is muscle. Lebron is a bit taller and weighs 35 pounds less. Can Zion get the weight down? Will he be as effective if he does? If he doesn't, will that impact his long term durability? And if he has some injury issues early, will that impact his development negatively?
Zion is hugely talented and I think he will be good and possibly great - but if he's only playing 50 games or less a year due to durability issues, is that a problem? We don't know if that will happen, but it is a valid concern. You roll the dice because of his talent and massive upside, but other players are far more likely to consistently play in over 60 games a year.