One day before Thanksgiving — immediately after the New Orleans
Pelicans defeated the San Antonio Spurs — Zion Williamson was asked
an innocent question: What is your favorite dish?
“You're trying to set me up,” Williamson replied. “No matter
what answer I give, social media is going to clown me. So, no
comment."
Williamson was smiling and many people thought the exchange was
funny. However, upon reflection, it’s a bit sad. Over the years,
Williamson has dealt with so many weight-related jokes and barbs
that he doesn’t even feel comfortable broaching the topic of
food.
Unfortunately, what Zion said is probably true. Had he answered
this question, his mentions likely would’ve been full of rude memes
and jokes about his weight.
Not only has Williamson’s weight been the butt of many jokes
online, but media members have also discussed his body a ton. It
can’t be easy to have so much attention focused on your weight at
22 years old, especially when your earnings are directly tied to
your body.
Williamson’s contract with the Pelicans features periodic
weigh-ins and “the sum of his weight and body fat percentage must
be below 295,” according to Christian Clark of
NOLA.com. If this
number is above 295, the team can reduce his guaranteed money.
Williamson has hired a private chef and personal trainer to meet
his contractual requirements. And it’s worth noting that he’s not
the only NBA player with a weight-related clause in his
contract.
Though the Pelicans would argue that they are just trying to
keep Zion healthy and protect their superstar asset, there’s no
question that these weigh-ins (plus the barrage of jokes and
negativity) could take a toll on a person and potentially affect
their relationship with food.
While there’s no evidence that Williamson has dealt with an
eating disorder (and I’m not suggesting that he has), there are
many athletes who do struggle with disordered eating.
Approximately 10 million men in the United States will suffer
from an eating disorder during their lifetime, and elite athletes
are nearly three times more likely to have an eating disorder,
according to a study by the Norwegian University of Sport and
Physical Education.
For example, many boxers develop eating disorders — such as
anorexia, bulimia or binge eating — since they are expected to cut
weight and heavily restrict what they eat prior to
fights.
“There is a misconception that eating disorders are disorders
for females. The reality is that men struggle with eating disorders
just like women do,” said Erin Rubenking, the associate
director and clinical care coordinator for the University of
Colorado Athletic Department’s Psychological Health and Performance
program. “It often takes men a much longer time to get help because
of that.”
Several years ago, former New York Knicks center Michael
Sweetney opened up to me about the harassment
he faced about his weight and how it affected his mental
health.
“When I go talk to kids, I use my life as an example. I tell
them, ‘Google my name. All you’re going to see is a bunch of fat
jokes and bad stuff about me. You won’t find anything positive,’”
Sweetney said. “A lot of these kids get cyberbullied, so I try to
use myself as an example to help them get through it. I tell them
what I went through, show them [negative] articles that were
written about me and make it clear that everything is going to be
okay — even if they don’t understand or believe that right now. And
one thing I’ve realized is that a lot of the people who cyberbully
others are going through something themselves, and are unhappy with
themselves, so they pick on other people.
“I’ll never mention the person’s name, but about a year ago, a
writer reached out to me. He wrote a really bad article about me a
while back — it was just terrible, going in on me and mocking my
weight – and he found out that I’d suffered from depression. He
called me to apologize and said that he was suffering from
depression too and he felt that picking on other people would make
him feel better. I didn’t hold any of it against him; in fact, we
still keep in contact and we’re good friends now. People go through
things. But that’s where, again, I can point to my own story and
tell kids, ‘It’s not you. It’s more likely that the other person
has some issues they’re working out.’ Fortunately, I think my talks
have been helping people.”
After Sweetney’s father died in 2003, his depression got so bad
that he attempted suicide during his stint with the Knicks.
“I remember the night,” Sweetney told me. “We were in Cleveland
one night and I just took a bunch of pain pills, hoping it would
take me out. But I woke up the next morning thinking, ‘Well, it
didn’t work.’ That’s how bad it was. I didn’t like basketball and I
just didn’t like life at the time... Even after I tried to commit
suicide, nobody really knew. I was suffering really bad. I was in
New York, battling this while the media was writing [negative]
articles about me, and I felt like I had nowhere to go. I just kept
digging myself into a deeper hole of depression…
“[I] tell kids my story. You know, ‘Hey, I was the ninth pick in
the NBA draft — the same class as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade —
and people looked at me as being a potential All-Star and whatnot.
I didn’t live up to that, and a big part of that was because of my
depression. I kept digging my hole deeper.’ I try to tell these
kids, ‘At the first sign of depression, get help. Go talk to
someone. Don’t hold it in.’ For me, it got to the point where I was
holding it in and I gained so much weight that I lost my NBA
career.”
Pointing to a more recent example, DJ Carton — who currently
plays for the Iowa Wolves of the NBA G League — has been open about
his struggles with disordered eating. While playing at Ohio State,
he lost a significant amount of weight while battling an eating
disorder and ultimately took a leave of absence, citing mental
health issues. After the season, he transferred to Marquette and
was able to resume his career.
Most people don’t realize that eating disorders can be deadly.
Every 52 minutes, at least one person dies from issues related to
an eating disorder, according to the National Association of
Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Each year, 10,200 deaths
are the direct result of eating disorders, as they can cause
complications such as heart failure, kidney failure, pancreatitis,
peptic ulcers, type-II diabetes, gallbladder disease and heart
disease. Also, roughly 26% of people who are struggling with
disordered eating will attempt suicide at some point.
Fans may think jokes or insults about an athlete’s weight are
harmless, but these barbs can have serious consequences and take a
toll on someone’s mental health.