Kendrick Perkins had plenty to say about David Griffin’s comments regarding how Zion Williamson is officiated for the New Orleans Pelicans.
Perkins wasn’t the only one to call Griffin out, as I also had some issue with his comments, though not the same issues Perkins ranted about.
I thought Griffin’s comments came far too late, as the damage to Zion Williamson was already done.
If Griffin has had a problem all season with the lack of calls and the nightly beatings that Zion Williamson takes, then he should have opened his mouth a long time ago, taken his fine and hoped the referees and league were listening.
I don’t a problem with Griffin speaking up, as it is much easier and better for coaches and front office people to handle these issues with the league rather than players getting technical fouls during games.
Kendrick Perkins disagrees.
New Orleans Pelicans: Kendrick Perkins calls David Griffin “soft”
If you have not seen the video, Perkins had plenty to say on ESPN’s First Take:
Perkins didn’t hold back in his criticism of Griffin’s comments:
"“Let me address David Griffin in my New Orleans voice. God bless his hurt baby because he doesn’t know better. This is a damn shame. This is the reason the old school guys call out the league soft because of weak commentary and weak comments like the ones David Griffin said.”"
He was more complimentary of Zion Williamson but still offered some advice for how to handle the hard fouls:
"“…what Zion needs to realize. People are not going to move out of his way. This is a grown man league. You know what happened when they started fouling Shaq hard. Shaq got more dominant. He got meaner. He started getting more offensive fouls. He started putting an elbow in people’s throats and necks to move them out of the way. That is what Zion has to do. He is already dominant, but he needs to get more dominant.”"
Is Perkins right?
As a fan who has been watching since the 1980’s when you could punch a guy in the face without getting a foul call, I do believe the league has gotten somewhat soft, especially when it comes to handing out flagrant fouls.
But I also understand why they do it. If the Malice in the Palace hadn’t happened, the league might not have gone this direction, but they cannot have fights on the court escalate into the stands.
I also prefer the style of basketball in the modern game, as I don’t fancy seeing guys holding each other all game and don’t want to watch playoff games played with a final score of 92-86, which was common back then.
I agree with Perkins that Zion Williamson needs to play with more anger, to throw a few elbows and to quit playing around with these guys who think they can hack him all game with impunity.
But I can’t agree with his assessment of Griffin’s comments. Though they came later than they should have, this is just a guy sticking up for his players, as many coaches and front office personnel have done in the past.
Griffin is one of the public faces of the New Orleans Pelicans, so what did you expect him to say? “Nah, Zion gets plenty of calls, we are definitely not upset that he is hurt and the refs should just keep allowing him to be hacked.”
If Griffin says nothing he is not doing his job, but if he speaks up he is “soft.” He couldn’t really win here, which is why Perkins’ comments are silly even though he does make a couple of solid points.