Rhythms and Hoops: Zion Williamson's Musical Side

Thanks to his immense size and skills, Zion Williamson was 2019’s top draft pick. He is listed as being 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 284 lbs as per ESPN. His power and physique make him a great option when it comes to a basketball team’s defensive maneuvers when defending the basket from layups and rebounding.

On top of his love for basketball, Zion is very passionate about music – especially hip-hop. Anyone who follows the star on Instagram can attest to this truth – whenever he is heading to the arena he likes to post what he is listening to on his social media.

Read on to find out more about Williamson’s musical side.

Zion’s love for hip-hop, and music in general, started when he was young. He recalls playing deejay in his mother’s car whenever she left him there while running errands.

This exposed him to all sorts of musicians including Mary J Blige, Jay Z, and B.I.G among others. While speaking to Andscape after a training session with his team the New Orleans Pelican, the rising star continued, “So, I would listen to them.” He admits that initially, he didn’t understand much about what the lyrics said, but as he grew up he learned more.

The New Orleans Pelicans power forward has on many occasions admitted to being a huge fan of Jay-Z’s music. He mentioned this back in 2017, in a series of blogs he did for USA Today High School Sports. In one of his blogs he said that even though he is really into Drake’s music, he had started going back and listening to a lot of Jay-Z. In his words, “I went back and listened to “The Black Album” and “The Blueprint” and just got reminded of how cold he is!”

In 2019, Zion got to play in front of Jay-Z when the famed rapper – who also owns a sports management agency – attended the college game between Zion’s team and the Pitt Panthers at the Petersen Events Center.

In another one of his blogs, young Zion mentioned some of his favorite rappers, “OK on the music side, you already know I’m still listening to Drake, J. Cole, Jay-Z, and Migos.” The NBA star has continued to share music and the names of his favorite rappers over the years.

Recently the star NBA player has been battling stress due to injury setbacks and off-the-court drama in his personal life. As a music lover, Zion attests to the relaxing effect of listening to his favorite tunes.

In mid-2023, at the height of the Moriah Mills controversy, the player posted B.I.G’s “Suicidal Thoughts” – from the rapper’s 1994 album “Ready to Die” – on his Instagram story. This sparked a huge debate about the player’s welfare on social media.

However, it is worth mentioning that Zion has on previous occasions mentioned the tracks as one of his go-to songs whenever he is feeling down and stressed.