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Pelicans’ Willie Green fires serious Zion Williamson message to referees after loss to Heat

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Chris Dodson | Last updated 2/24/24

The New Orleans Pelicans have been taking the high road all year when it comes to addressing the referees. The team has been on the wrong end of more NBA two-minute reports than any other organization, and they’ve also been waiting on some proper foul calls for Zion Williamson, who is constantly working through walls of bodies in the paint. Despite that, head coach Willie Green and the two-time All-Star have remained relatively quiet when it comes to correcting officials.

Erik Spoelstra’s Miami Heat hounded the Pelicans into a poor shooting night in their Friday night loss, and that frustration eventually boiled over, as Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall were ejected early in the fourth quarter after a skirmish broke out. Their gripe stemmed from Kevin Love’s seemingly intentional foul on Williamson, as all chaos broke loose shortly after the play. In addition, both Jimmy Butler and Thomas Bryant were ejected from the game for the Heat.

Announcers Joel Meyers and Antonio Daniels blamed the officials immediately. The referees let things get so unbalanced and out of hand that players literally started throwing hands.

Zion Williamson went down hard on a foul by Kevin Love which resulted into a scuffle between the Pelicans and the Heat pic.twitter.com/civ9szOlyA

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 24, 2024

Green decided to speak firmly but not get fined in his post-game press conference.

“I don’t think (Williamson) gets a great whistle,” Green opined. “I thought it could have been better.”

It’s perhaps the blandest browbeating any official has to deal with, but at least it came with a suggestion.

“Be consistent,” Willie Green sighed. “Simple. Be consistent. I won’t go too much further than that. Try to keep some money in my pocket if I can. But be consistent across the board.”

Williamson finished with 27 points (9-22 FGM), nine rebounds, and eight assists on the night. There were a handful of missed layups and midrange bank shots where Williamson went through a wall of defenders, but the referees saw no contact. The Pelicans had 58 points in the paint but only shot 13 free throws. The Heat had 46 points in the paint but got 25 chances from the charity stripe.

The constant discrepancy does not add up. New Orleans had 18 offensive rebounds but hardly ever heard a whistle when they went back up for the putback points. The Pelicans are consistently on the wrong half of league-wide fouls-to-paint points ratios. Williamson has to walk over for clarification at least once per quarter, and replays usually show corroborating evidence.

If the whistles stay silent over the next few weeks, Willie Green and Zion Williamson will have to loudly get their money’s worth when arguing another no-call situation. Going the cheap route is not working so far this season.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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