It is no secret that Zion Williamson has had his struggles.

Nearly three years ago, the NBA star admitted to dieting struggles, and in a recent interview with ESPN, he said the lowest point of his career was missing his third season with a broken foot and being criticized for his “weight” and “care for the game.”

ESPN star Stephen A. Smith has ripped Williamson on those critical issues in the past, and he did so again on Tuesday, going as far as to suggest that the New Orleans Pelicans actually “encouraged” him to attack Williamson.

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“The information that emanated about Zion Williamson, it came from inside the organization. It came from people even closer than that to Zion Williamson, I’m gonna leave it at that,” Smith said on Tuesday’s “First Take.” “People that called up and encouraged us to get in his a– 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.”

Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans looks on during the game against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 1, 2024 at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)

Smith’s comments prompted the Pelicans’ social media team to troll him and his athletic abilities, which is hardly a new phenomenon. They did the same in 2024.

“Stick to solitaire Stephen,” the team posted with a montage of Smith’s embarrassing athletic moments.

Pulling out stuff from a decade, two decades, three decades ago, ???? No problem. See y’all tomorrow on First Take. Remember one thing: YOU ASKED FOR THiS!!!!” Smith replied.

Host Stephen A. Smith in conversation with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) at a SiriusXM Town Hall event at SiriusXM Studio on Nov. 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

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Williamson transformed his body over the offseason, and it has resulted in him playing 46 games — his second-highest total since the 2020-21 season. His stats have taken a hit, as he’s averaged a career-low 21.5 points.

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WOLVERHAMPTON, England — Liverpool can’t say they weren’t warned. Even before a ball was kicked at Molineux on Tuesday night, the modus operandi of hosts Wolverhampton Wanderers was encapsulated in the banner draped over the centre circle, bearing the words: “Fear Nothing.”

Despite being rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table with virtually no chance of escaping relegation, Wolves’ recent triumph over high-flying Aston Villa suggested they are intent on not relinquishing their proud top flight status without a fight. Certainly, Rob Edwards’ side delivered a knockout blow to visitors Liverpool when midfielder André‘s strike deflected past Alisson Becker to consign the Reds to another chastening late loss.

The Brazil international’s 94th-minute winner means Liverpool have now lost five games to goals after the 90th minute this season — the most of any side in a single campaign in Premier League history. In addition to those defeats against Wolves, Manchester City, AFC Bournemouth, Chelsea and Crystal Palace, Liverpool have also conceded injury-time equalisers to Fulham and Leeds United, squandering nine precious points in the process.

In a season characterised by late drama — for good reasons and for bad — Liverpool’s propensity for exposing their soft underbelly has too often been their undoing. A heady cocktail of misfortune and poor defending paved the way for Wolves’ last-gasp winner, handing the reigning Premier League champions a 2-1 loss to the league’s last-place team.

But while the Reds can bemoan the missed foul on Dominik Szoboszlai and the heavy deflection off Joe Gomez, the alarming frequency of their capitulations this season means this is no hard luck story.

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Ahead of Tuesday’s trip to the West Midlands, Liverpool coach Arne Slot was asked for his opinion of the Premier League’s increasing focus on physicality and set pieces, and he gave a candid appraisal: “Do I like it? My football heart doesn’t like it.”

While his comments will have resonated in some quarters, there was very little about Liverpool’s play against Wolves that will have satisfied the football purists. The first half at Molineux was something of a non-event, with Cody Gakpo‘s tame effort on goal the only passable chance carved out by the visitors, who have been culpable of letting too many contests pass them by this term.

Wolves, meanwhile, were content to let Slot’s men have the ball and wait for an opportunity to pounce. They did so with a vengeance in the 78th minute when Tolu Arokodare outmuscled Virgil van Dijk and picked out Rodrigo Gomez, who expertly dinked the ball over Alisson to convert the hosts’ first shot on target.

According to Opta, it is the second-latest a team has scored with their first shot of a Premier League match, after Fulham vs. Newcastle in October 2022 (88th minute). Parity was restored just five minutes later when Mohamed Salah picked off a loose pass from Jean Ricner-Bellegarde and slotted past José Sá.

It was Salah’s first Premier League goal since Nov. 1 but while the Egypt international finally broke his drought, his overall lack of efficacy once again brought Liverpool’s lack of dynamism out wide into sharp focus. On the other flank, Gakpo’s most notable contribution came when he appeared to inadvertently prevent a certain goal from Curtis Jones in the second half, before being substituted shortly after the hour mark.

Despite last summer’s record-breaking spend of close to £450 million, Liverpool once again find themselves with major surgery to do to address the glaring gaps in their squad and assemble a creative unit capable of unpicking increasingly stringent Premier League defences. The return of midfielder Florian Wirtz — currently sidelined with a back problem — cannot come soon enough.

Still, Slot’s side should have had more than enough firepower to steer them past a team that, before Tuesday night, had won only two league games all season. Their desire to push for a winner — not for the first time this term — left them vulnerable in defence and opened the door for Andre to try his luck from the edge of the penalty area.

It was a gamble that paid off for the Brazilian, with his strike catapulting the home supporters into dreamland and sending manager Edwards sprinting down the touchline. That Liverpool’s ineptitude has incited such feverish celebrations on so many occasions this season is perhaps the most damning indictment of their topsy-turvy campaign.

“How do I sum this up?” Slot said in his post-match news conference. “Same old story. Recently we are picking up points because we score many times from set-pieces, but what didn’t change in the last five, six seven games is that we struggle and find it very hard to score from open play chances that we do create.

“Not as much as I would like from all the ball possession we have but enough and far more than the other team. But the end result is we scored one and they scored two and another one in injury time so it sums up our season again.”

It is a fair assessment from the Dutchman, but one that has been too often applicable this season.

Too many times this term Liverpool have encountered the “same old story.” They are fast running out of games to rewrite their campaign’s ending.

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New Zealand secured their place in the T20 World Cup final after defeating South Africa by nine wickets in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Wednesday.

Set to chase 170, the Blackcaps comfortably struck the winning runs for the loss of just one wicket and 43 balls to spare, courtesy of a monumental opening partnership between centurion Finn Allen and Tim Seifert.

The opening pair laid a solid foundation for the pursuit by putting together 117 runs in nine overs before Kagiso Rabada cleaned up Seifert, who made a 33-ball 58 with the help of seven fours and two sixes.

Allen, on the other hand, stood his ground firm and eventually steered New Zealand over the line by smashing Marco Jansen for a four on the penultimate delivery of the 13th over, which also helped him bring up his third T20I century.

He also shared a one-sided 56-run partnership for the second wicket with Rachin Ravindra, who contributed with 13 not out from 11 deliveries.

Rabada remained the solitary wicket-taker for South Africa.

Put into bat first, South Africa accumulated 169/8 in their 20 overs, courtesy of a defiant sixth-wicket partnership between Jansen and Tristan Stubbs.

The Proteas, however, got off to a dismal start to their innings as they lost Quinton de Kock (10) and Ryan Rickelton (zero) in the second over with just 12 runs on the board.

Following the early stutter, captain Aiden Markram was joined by Dewald Brevis in the middle, and the duo batted cautiously to add 43 runs for the third wicket until the former fell victim to Rachin Ravindra in the eighth over after scoring a scratchy 18 off 20 deliveries.

Ravindra struck again in his next over, dismissing David Miller, who could score a run-a-ball six.

James Neesham inflicted another setback on South Africa in the next over as he dismissed set batter Brevis, who walked back after top-scoring with 34 off 27 deliveries with the help of three fours and two sixes, and brought the total down to 77/5.

Bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen and Tristan Stubbs then launched a spirited recovery for South Africa as they put together 73 runs for the sixth off just 46 deliveries until Lockie Ferguson cleaned up the latter on the first delivery of the penultimate over.

Stubbs scored an anchoring 29 off 24 deliveries with the help of two fours and a six.

Jansen, on the other hand, carried his onslaught until the end and returned after top-scoring with an unbeaten 55 off just 30 deliveries, studded with five sixes and two fours.

For New Zealand, Cole McConchie, Matt Henry and Ravindra bagged two wickets each, while Neesham and Ferguson made one scalp apiece.