There has been a lot of finger-pointing surrounding the New Orleans Pelicans following their bitter Play-In exit at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's another wasted season for the Pels, and unsurprisingly, Zion Williamson, who yet again missed a huge chunk of the season due to injury, is taking a lot of the blame.
For his part, Pelicans vice president of basketball operations David Griffin already shut down the talk pertaining to Zion's alleged unwillingness to play despite being healthy. According to Griffin, Williamson was never medically cleared to play from his nagging hamstring injury, which is the reason why he was unable to return to the court toward the latter part of the season.
Nevertheless, the high-ranking team executive isn't letting his superstar off the hook. According to Griffin, Zion's injury woes are also partially his fault:
“I think a big part is on him,” Griffin said, via Christian Clark of nola.com. “I think there is a lot he can do better. And he would, I think, tell you that. I think we need to do a better job examining the whole situation top to bottom a little bit better.”
CJ McCollum also stated in a recent interview that availability was a major issue for the Pelicans this past season. The New Orleans veteran did not name any names, but some fans believe that McCollum was referencing Williamson's injury in his rant. Griffin appears to be sending a similar message here in terms of Zion Williamson taking control of his own health.
David Griffin said that even Zion himself would admit to his shortcomings. Until we actually hear it from him, though, I'm not so sure Williamson actually feels the same way.
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