“F— all that B.S” - LeBron James stands up for Zion Williamson after Stephen A. Smith's comments about his weight

The Los Angeles Lakers have taken advantage of a lighter stretch in the schedule to improve their record and create some distance from the Play-In zone. They notched their third straight win last night, defeating the New Orleans Pelicans at home by 110–101.

As usual, JJ Redick's squad was led by Luka Doncic who had 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists on 10-of-22 shooting, while LeBron James added 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on an efficient 8-of-12 from the field.

Advertisement

For the losing side, Zion Williamson was the standout with 24 points and four rebounds on 10-of-18 shooting, continuing his strong individual form that unfortunately hasn't translated into team success, as the Pelicans currently sit 13th in the West with a 19–44 record.

Still, the most interesting moment of the night came after the final buzzer, when LeBron approached Zion and offered advice regarding the criticism from Stephen A. Smith.

"F— all that B.S. about Stephen A.," the four-time NBA champion told Zion while hugging him after the game.

Advertisement

Zion admitted critics affected him in a bad way

The entire situation surrounding Wiliamson and his weight issues came back into focus two days ago when he gave a candid interview to ESPN's Malika Andrews, revealing the hardest stretch of his NBA car eer.

"The most difficult point was when I missed my third year with a broken foot," Williamson said. "There was a lot of criticism of my weight, my care for the game, etcetera. But the whole time, I'm looking at a doctor, and the doctor is telling me, 'Yeah, we're gonna perform this surgery, but if this surgery doesn't work, we really don't know the next step.'"

Advertisement

"So while people are saying what they are saying, everybody's entitled to their opinion, it is what it is. I'm in Portland, rehabbing, not knowing my foot's gonna heal. It was frustrating. It was very frustrating, but I was very low, 'cause I wanted to play basketball. I just want to play the game I love. But every time I turned the TV on, it was nothing but negative criticism, and at that time, it did a lot. But it was a blessing in disguise, and I learned from it and grew from it," he added.

That interview came after he had put together 35 straight games for the first time in his career, then missed one due to injury but returned immediately against the Lakers, further proving he's on the right track to salvaging a career many had already started to write off.

Coming into the season, it was clear he had reshaped his body and this year truly looked like it could be different from previous ones when injuries simply blocked his path to NBA stardom.

Advertisement

SAS once again called out Zion

However, after the ESPN interview, SAS was among the first to publicly call out former BlueDevil again over his weight issu es, once more putting the former No. 1 overall pick in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

"The information that emanated about Zion Williamson came from inside the organization. It came from people even closer than that to Zion Williamson. I'm gonna leave it at that," Smith stressed.

"People who called up and encouraged us to get in his a– because of some of the things that he was doing. You got people that are alcoholics, you got people that are drug addicts, and stuff like that. What was Zion's problem? Food! Food addict! You even have rumors and literally, I'm here thinking it was a joke, and somebody told me how he got busted hiding food under his bed," he added.

Advertisement

The fact is that his weight and off-the-court issues have significantly impacted a career that, so far, has been defined by injuries. Still, at 25 years old, Williamson is young enough to turn things around and at least partially fulfill the potential once projected for him.

It's unfortunate that after Lakers-Pelicans matchups, we're not discussing the battle between LeBron and Zion. Instead, the basketball world is talking more about weight issues than the game.

Advertisement

Related: ESPN analyst explains why Zion Williamson is not a "bust" but "disappointment": "He still got room to rewrite his narrative"

This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.