Charles Barkley is a Hall of Famer and widely considered to be one of the best NBA players of all time, so some might say it is far too early to compare 18-year-old Zion Williamson to him. Barkley has no problem with it, however.
Barkley was asked on Sunday about people comparing his game to Williamson’s, and he said the freshman has more explosiveness than he ever had. He also said he’s “flattered” to be compared to the Duke star.
Charles Barkley is a big fan of Zion pic.twitter.com/8EnjXXS8Sb
— SB Nation (@SBNation) March 24, 2019
Like Barkley in his prime, Williamson has incredible athletic ability for his size. The two are about the same height, but Williamson is about 30 pounds heavier than Barkley was during his playing career. That makes his leaping ability even more mind-boggling, and that’s the explosiveness Barkley is likely referring to.
In addition to the physical comparisons, Williamson also seems to have the same bulldog mentality that Barkley had. He has continued to fight back against the narrative that he should shut it down to protect his NBA future, and you can bet Barkley would have done the same.
