Zion Williamson responds to criticism after Charles Barkley said ‘he’s not a young kid’ anymore

After New Orleans was eliminated from the In-Season Tournament after a blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the semifinals last week, Zion Williamson was the main target of criticism from most fans and NBA analysts.

As the Pelicans suffered a 44-point loss, both Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal questioned the star’s conditioning, and ranted on his lack of effort and motivation as he dropped just 13 points and turned out to be minus-33 in the box score. It took the player 4 days to respond to the legends’ criticism.

After Monday’s impressive 14-point victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are leading the Western Conference, Zion produced one of his best performances of this campaign. The power forward dropped a season-high 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting.

“What exactly did they say?” the 23-year-old asked the press when they wanted him to address the Hall of Famers’ words.

As they told the athlete it mostly had to do with his conditioning, the Pelicans star responded: “If it comes from a great place and a place where they just want to see me do better — thank you. But if it comes from anywhere else, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. You can’t control that.”

After competing in 20 contests this season, Zion is averaging 22.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists while shooting an impressive 58.4% from the field. After analyzing the TNT analysts’ take on his performances, you could say they both hope to see the New Orleans star reach his full potential.

“At the end of the day, I can’t control what no grown man do. I can’t control what no grown adult does. All I can do is control the things I can control, lock in on myself, lock in on my teammates, coaches and everybody with Pelicans, the city and try to win,” he said in response to Shaq and Barkley.

What did the two Hall of Famers say about Zion? Both legends are convinced there’s even more to the Pelicans star’s potential

After witnessing New Orleans’ elimination from the In-Season Tournament last week, both Shaq and Barkley were brutally honest about the young star’s exhibition.

“I want to make some points about Zion. He does not run hard — it’s not a diss, this is going to be a lesson from one great big man to another guy that can be a great big man. I had the same problem my first and second year,” the Lakers legend said.

Shaq didn’t hold back on Zion Williamson’s disappointing performance against the Lakers 😳

LINK: https://t.co/ENSBUcDtJW pic.twitter.com/tH7fAhHne8

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 9, 2023

According to O’Neal, the 23-year-old isn’t showing the intensity that’s needed from him. “He doesn’t create easy points for himself. I saw a couple of times, he had a couple guys at the basket — he doesn’t seal. He doesn’t demand the ball,” he said.

Barkley shared a similar sentiment. “The thing that disturbs me is — he’s not a young kid. When Moses (Malone) told me I was fat and lazy, I was a rookie. He’s been in the league long enough — he’s got two guys on his team that are better players than him and they shouldn’t be,” he expressed.