NBA fines Pelicans’ Griffin $50,000 for Zion comments

NEW YORK (AP) — The NBA has fined New Orleans Pelicans executive David Griffin $50,000 for publicly criticizing officiating over how star Zion Williamson is handled and making comments that the league considered detrimental. The decision came two days after Griffin spoke out about his concerns on the amount of contact NBA referees allow Williamson to endure. Williamson is out indefinitely with a fractured 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 him. He called it “open season” on the 6-foot-7, 284-pound forward.