*Video of injured New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson working out a healing broken foot became fodder for retired NBA stars Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal Tuesday night, as the “Inside the NBA” analysts roasted the 21-year-old for putting on weight during the injury.
“Looks like me and Shaq had a baby,” Barkley said, causing a laughing O’Neal to stand and say, “I quit.”
Eventually, Barkley, 58, got serious, saying Williamson has already had several surgeries at his young age, and attributed them to the player being in poor shape.
“He’s already hurt, you should not get hurt when you’re young,” Barkley stated. “And he’s already had surgeries on his legs, now he’s got a broken foot, he gonna have to learn, even when you’re hurt, you’re gonna have to control your eating.”
Barkley shared being on the receiving end of a similar, brutal conversation he had with one time teammate Moses Malone that ended up being the turning point of his career.
“Moses Malone said to me, he said I was fat and lazy,” Barkley recalled. “And I started to cry a little bit.”
Watch the entire segment below:
The latest update is Williamson, officially listed at 284 pounds, will be out for two to three more weeks.
