Zion Williamson has been great since coming back to the Pelicans' rotation after dealing with another significant hamstring injury for the third straight season.
It was recently reported by ESPN's Michael Wright that Williamson has cut his weight down to 264 pounds, the lightest weight the star has been since being drafted by New Orleans in 2019.
It shows Williamson is taking better care of his conditioning as fans and those around the NBA have questioned his ability to stay healthy due to his weight since his arrival in the league. And injuries have surely played a big part in Williamson missing significant time for several seasons throughout his professional career.
His conditioning and training has improved over the last couple of seasons and Williamson played a career-high 70 games last season. But dealing with this hamstring again in 2025 has limited the forward to just 24 games played this season of a potential 57.
Although, since coming back regularly in January, Williamson has been elite.
Williamson has scored at least 21 points in 11 of the 14 games he's played since the start of the new year, including a 40-point performance on 16-of-21 shooting from the floor on February 9th in a 123-118 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Most recently, Williamson dropped 22 points and 9 rebounds on February 24th in a 114-96 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, snapping the team's nine-game losing streak.
Williamson has done all of this on a minutes restriction since returning from injury, having not eclipsed 30 minutes of action in any game since the beginning of 2025.
The Pelicans showed that they are now using Williamson as the cornerstone of their franchise for the future after trading Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors ahead of this season's trade deadline.
Williamson is such a dominant force on the court when he's healthy, and it seems the big is taking his training as seriously as ever to prove he can be the best player on a winning team. Earlier on this season, Williamson was suspended by the Pelicans for one game for a 'violation of team policies,' but it was later reported that this had been building up for a while, and it wasn't one mistake that costed Williamson the suspension. It was said Williamson was late for several team practices in the past.
"This is my job, and they were holding me accountable," Williamson said after the suspension. "All I can do is be better. There are consequences for your actions, and that was my consequence."
The way Williamson has been dominating since returning to the Pelicans' lineup, it looks like the star will be back for good if he can keep his conditioning in check.