As expected, the NBA will not be taking any further action against Victor Wembanyama after he was ejected from Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves for elbowing Naz Reid in the throat area, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
The incident occurred with 8:39 left in the second quarter, after Wemby had grabbed an offensive rebound, and Reid and Jaden McDaniels were swiping and draped all over him. Wemby then swung his elbow and hit Reid in the throat, and after video review, head referee Zach Zarba determined that the three key points of intent, wind-up and follow-through were met to meet the criteria of a Flagrant 2 foul, resulting in him being ejected from the game for the first time in his career.
While making it clear that he did not justify the play itself, head coach Mitch Johnson had Wemby’s back after the game, stating his frustration with the officiating and how the amount of contact and physicality players are allowed to get away with on him led up to this point, perhaps at the risk of his own fine.
“Just the amount of physicality that people play with him, at some level, you have to protect yourself. Every single play on every single part of the floor, people are trying to impose their physicality on you. He’s gotten pushed down in transition, running freely. We don’t complain because we’re just going to play. We don’t really give a s—. But at some stage, he should be protected. If not, he’s going to have to protect himself, and unfortunately, stuff like that happens.
“It’s starting to get disgusting in terms of when he tries to fight through things, be professional and mature and deal with some of that stuff. I’m glad he took matters into his own hands. Not in terms of hitting Naz Reid, but he’s going to have to protect himself if they’re not. And I think it’s disgusting.”
Wemby reportedly had words of encouragement for his teammates at halftime, and to the Spurs’ credit, they didn’t fold or give up on the game without their star center (despite Carmelo Anthony’s idiotic suggestion that they should during NBC’s halftime show — perhaps that mindset is an insight into why he never even made the finals himself). Instead, they weathered the initial storm then rode their star guards to 9-point second half lead before what felt like an inevitable Anthony Edwards fourth-quarter storm, and they didn’t have quite enough time recover, resulting in a 109-114 loss with the series tied at 2-2.
The good news is Wemby will be available for Game 5 after avoiding suspension. That shouldn’t be a surprise considering it was a pretty standard flagrant 2 without anything extra, plus we already saw Nikola Jokic attempt to throw a punch against this same team in the last round with no suspension, as well as several other far more egregious fouls that didn’t lead to suspension, although he will have to pay the mandatory fine of $2,000 that comes with a flagrant 2. Wemby’s case is likely also helped by the fact that has no prior history of such acts (unlike Draymond Green or Isaiah Stewart, whom we’ve seen receive “repeat offender” suspensions).
Speaking of Green one thing that likely won’t impact Wemby but he will have to keep in mind is the NBA’s technical counter, which can lead to a player being suspended after accumulating 7 points in the playoffs, with 2 points for Flagrant 2’s, and one point for Flagrant 1’s or technical fouls. While it is extremely unlikely he will reach 7 points, hopefully this is still something he learns and grows from.
After a much needed two days off (both for rest and to let cooler heads prevail), the series will resume on Wednesday in San Antonio. Thanks to the Knicks sweeping the 76ers, there is no double-header to contend with, so tip-off will be at the preferred time of 7:00 PM CT (instead 8:30) on NBC and Peacock. (Game 6 may be another story, depending on if Cleveland vs. Detroit reaches a Game 6, but at least that’s on a Friday.)
