Zion Williamson admitted he’s a little sensitive to criticism about his weight, so Stephen A. Smith responded by criticizing his weight.

Smith has repeatedly mocked Williamson’s weight in recent years. He’s called the former No. 1 overall pick “fat,” joked about his belly bouncing on the court, claimed the chefs in New Orleans love to see him enter their restaurant, accused him of being addicted to food and hiding snacks under his bed. Smith hasn’t just said Williamson needs to get in better shape, he’s leaned into mocking and insulting the 25-year-old forward for his weight. And for whatever reason, Smith just can’t seem to get enough of fat-shaming Williamson.

This season, Williamson has already played in 45 games after playing just 30 games or less in four of his first six NBA seasons. Joining ESPN’s NBA Today this week, Williamson spoke about the criticism he’s received throughout his career, pointing to comments about his weight and claims that he didn’t care.

“The most difficult point was when I missed my third year with a broken foot. … There was a lot of criticism on my weight, my care for the game. … I was really low because I just wanted to play basketball.”

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson on the most difficult point during… pic.twitter.com/tf9CnsZ3VX

— ESPN (@espn) March 2, 2026

“The most difficult point was when I missed my third year with a broken foot,” Williamson said. “There was a lot of criticism on my weight, my care for the game…I was low. I was really low because I just wanted to play basketball.”

While Williamson now claims he was able to grow from the criticism, he also noted it negatively impacted his mental health. Tuesday morning on First Take, Smith heard Williamson, and he doubled down on his previous criticisms. Because according to Smith, people wanted him to criticize and mock Williamson for his weight.

“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!” – Stephen A. Smith responds to Zion Williamson pic.twitter.com/5TdvA4FZPR

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 3, 2026

“I say this respectfully to Zion Williamson, we’re very happy for you. But…nothing was made up,” Smith insisted. “The information that emanated about Zion Williamson, yeah it came from inside the organization. It came from people even closer than that to Zion Williamson, I’m gonna leave it at that. People that called up and encouraged us to get in his ass 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!

“The joke was everybody in New Orleans that cooked, it could be everybody from a restaurant, a chef, to your grandmama. Everybody that cooked knew about Zion Williamson. And he knew them! They were on a first-name basis. Cause that brother ate a lot! You even have rumors, and literally, I’m here thinking it was a joke, and somebody told me to go on the air and point out how he got busted hiding food under his bed. This is the kind of stuff that was happening.”

Well, at least Smith said all that respectfully. Because some people may have taken Smith’s comments about Williamson’s weight and alleged addiction to food as disrespect. And it sounds like Williamson may have even taken it that way in the past. But that doesn’t appear to have stopped Smith from continuing to fat-shame Williamson.

Forget about eventually apologizing to Williamson, Smith appears to be hunting for a thank you. Because in the wake of Smith fat-shaming him for years, Williamson is now experiencing one of the healthiest seasons of his NBA career. But if Smith hears about Williamson hiding snacks under his bed again, you can bet he’ll be just as eager to share it on national TV.