SALISBURY, NORTH CAROLINA: Zion Williamson, the NBA star who stands 6 ft 6 inches (198.12 cm) tall, holds the position of power forward for the New Orleans Pelicans, according to NBA records.

The standout player for the New Orleans Pelicans experienced a one-inch height reduction following his departure from Duke's team, a change prompted by the NBA's mandate for a thorough evaluation of its players, including height and weight.

Why did NBA player Zion Williamson's height change?

Zion Williamson's height change emerged as an early subject of NBA's meticulous scrutiny of players' recorded heights.

Zion Williamson's height was officially recorded at 6 ft 6 inches, an inch shorter than what he was listed at earlier — 6 ft 7inches (200.66 cm) — during his time at Duke Blue Devils in 2018.

In 2019, The New York Times reported that the NBA undertook a comprehensive assessment exercise under its new height guidelines to measure and verify the 'true' heights of its players.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, "With the NBA installing new rules for teams to verify accurate player heights, as the New York Times reported last week, here is one of the most notable entries so far: No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson measured officially at 6-foot-6, league sources said. The phenom was listed at 6-foot-7 during his freshman season at Duke." At the time, Williamson was only 19 years old.

In the same year, his NBA Summer League debut was cut short after just nine minutes of action due to a bone bruise which was attributed to his height and weight.

'Zion is still getting taller'

Even though NBA passed the height rule in 2019, Zion was still in his developing years in terms of stature and adult weight, the same being evident at his 2019 game.

Zion Williamson's much-awaited NBA Summer League debut in 2019 was curtailed after a mere nine minutes of play due to a bone bruise sustained in a collision.

Swiftly following this setback, basketball analysts wasted no time in asserting that Williamson's minor injury served as a stark indication that significant adjustments to his physique are imperative.

ESPN’s Seth Greenberg called Williamson “significantly overweight,” while Charles Barkley said that Williamson isn’t “fat,” but can’t realistically play his whole career at his listed weight of 285.

As per vice president of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans, David Griffin, Williamson is gradually narrowing the height differential with Boban, and the team's emphasis is on his conditioning rather than his playing weight.

In an interview with The Athletic, Griffin said, "Yeah, I don’t know that we can determine a weight yet. Zion’s still growing. One of the things that’s lost in this whole process is that, like Jaxson Hayes, Zion is still getting taller. We’re not exactly sure what he’ll look like in the end."