Free Republic

Zion Williamson is opening up about some of his struggles with his weight. The 6-foot-6, 284-pound forward, who has been criticized by Pelicans vice president of basketball ops David Griffin about his health problems, broke down his difficulty with dieting on Gilbert Arenas’ “Gil’s Arena” show. “Is it hard to diet at your age?” Arenas asked. “Be honest.” “Since it’s you, I’ll be real,” Williamson said. “That s–t hard, it’s hard man. Like, you’re 20, 22, got a lot of money — it feels like all the money in the world — man, it is hard. “But I’m at that...

Attorney Michael Avenatti, who was arrested by the Southern District of New York for alleged extortion late last month, continued his crusade against Nike. The attorney accused Nike of paying college basketball’s top stars and already listed two players who he alleges Nike paid before they were college stars. Avenatti accused former Arizona star DeAndre Ayton, of the Phoenix Suns, of accepting payments from Nike before he committed to the school. Not long after, he went after another Pac-12 star. Avenatti says that Nike also paid former Oregon player Bol Bol. Late Friday night, Avenatti dropped the biggest name in...

Note to Nike: You Had One Job Zion Williamson’s shoe blowout on Wednesday night is the most high-profile incident of shoe failure ever. Here you had the likely No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, playing in the biggest game of his college career, in a contest hyped for weeks as being the must-watch game of the college basketball season — then, just 33 seconds into the game…as Williamson drove the ball into the teeth of the Tar Heel defense, his left foot busted out of his shoe and he went down clutching his right knee. – SBNation Adding injury...

Nike says it’s investigating why Duke freshman Zion Williamson split a shoe open during a game against rival North Carolina. But the sportswear giant says it’s an “isolated occurrence.” The Beaverton, Oregon-based company says it’s concerned and says quality and performance of its products are of “utmost importance.” The shoe malfunction, which forced Williamson to leave the game with a knee sprain, happened in front of a crowd of celebrities, including former President Barack Obama and Spike Lee.