Zion Williamson and his camp believe he has taken a critical step in improving his conditioning this summer. Williamson recently returned to New Orleans after spending two months in Fort Lauderdale executing a conditioning plan crafted with his strength and conditioning coach Jasper Bibbs.

“He’s in fantastic shape,” Bibbs told The Athletic. “He’s been committed to putting in the work day in and day out. I’m really proud of what he’s been able to accomplish. He’s a better athlete now than he’s ever been.”

Bibbs declined to specify how much weight Williamson lost over the summer, but he has said Williamson has come a long way since they began working together in January.

Williamson missed the entire 21-22 season following foot surgery.

“(His body composition) has improved at an extremely high level,” he said. “That’s all I’ll say.”

Bibbs previously worked with Donovan Williams.

"This summer, we came up with a plan," said Bibbs. "He committed to the plan. We wanted Zion to not only have a great individual season, but we also wanted to focus on what he could do to help the team win. We wanted to develop him to be more resilient and to better handle the demands of being a very explosive athlete at his size.

"We focused on addressing body composition — his body weight, body fat, etc. — while maintaining and improving flexibility, strength and power. We also focused on improving his overall fitness. The more weight he carries around, the more stress it puts on the body. We focused on aerobic and anaerobic basketball-specific conditioning. One of the main goals was to get Zion back to the same athletic ability he had before the injury. In the process, he’s improved athletically. I truly think he’s a better athlete now than he was before. Once you guys see him on the court, I think you’ll agree."