NEW YORK – The NBA fined David Griffin of the New Orleans Pelicans $50,000 on Sunday for publicly criticizing officiating and making comments the league considered detrimental.
The decision came two days after Griffin, the Pelicans’ executive vice president of basketball operations, spoke out strongly about his concerns over the amount of contact NBA referees allow New Orleans forward Zion Williamson to endure.
Williamson is currently out indefinitely with a broken left index finger. Griffin said the Pelicans have told league officials many times that they feared Williamson was being exposed to injury because of the way defenders are allowed to play against the 6-foot-7, 284-pound standout. “He’s injured now because of the open season