Zion Williamson plays like Shawn Kemp? Charles Barkley? Scoop B Radio Checked in With Fox Sports’ Rashad Phillips. Press Play Below To Listen!
Likely the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2019 NBA Draft, Zion Williamson is THAT dude.
Standing 6’7″ and 285 pound Williamson, 18, averaged 22.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game as a Duke Blue Devil and was the unanimous ACC Player of the Year.
https://twitter.com/ScoopB/status/1141055081686716417
For those keeping score at home: Williamson recorded a total of 81 points, 30 rebounds and seven steals to help lead the Blue Devils to their 21st ACC title in school history.
Williamson was also one of four finalists for the Naismith Trophy, an award which recognizes the most outstanding men’s college basketball player.
Million Dollar Question: Who Does Zion Williamson play basketball like?
Some say LeBron James.
“The one thing that I noticed with his one year at Duke [is] that his energy was infectious,” James said on a recent episode of HBO’s The Shop.
“Every possession it seemed like he could make a difference on the outcome of the game.”
What about Charles Barkley?
On a recent episode of the Scoop B Radio Podcast, I discussed that with hoops analyst, Rashad Phillips.
See a portion of our discussion below:
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: When you look at previous drafts do you remember people comparing Clarence Weathersopoon to Charles Barkley.
Rashad Phillips: I remember that too, [Weatherspoon] came out of Southern Miss, Yes.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Some people say that about Zion do you see that comparison.
Rashad Phillips: Charles Barkley, when I say comparison, this is how I look at it. I see flashes of Charles Barkley sometimes in Zion. I can’t say all the way but I do see splashes of Zion, Zion is an Ultra basketball player, in regards to he shows flashes of Shawn Kemp, Charles Barkley, and I see flashes of Rodney Rodgers who’d played.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: I miss Rodney Rodgers. I was a fan of his on the court. I ran into him in Charlotte during NBA All-Star Weekend. I miss his game.
Rashad Phillips: Yeah man, he was left landed. He was powerful, could shoot, dunk, like so I see Splashes of Charles Barkley. But I also, see flashes of Shawn Kemp, Rodney Rodgers, Larry Johnson. So he kind of has a mix of all of them. Like he was made in a lab with DNA and they brought him out like that.
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson: Stuck in the Steve Urkel like Stefan Urquelle chamber.
Rashad Phillips: Yes exactly. He came with this cool, different type of specialness.
