It might have come a game too late, but the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama was finally given a flagrant foul.
It came in the third quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals with the Knicks trailing by 29 points and just under 9:30 left on the clock.
Wembanyama’s elbow came across the face of Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns as the Spurs’ big man was trying to break free.
Towns went down in a heap of pain, and at one point, Wembanyama came over and tapped him on the back.
After the officials reviewed the play, it was deemed a flagrant 1.
“After the review, it’s been deemed the elbow of Wembanyama makes unnecessary contact to the chin of Towns. This rises to the level of a flagrant foul penalty 1,” crew chief Zach Zarba announced to the delight of the Madison Square Garden crowd.
Wembanyama has become enemy No. 1 during the series after he launched Jalen Brunson to the ground in the first quarter of Game 3, which was not called a foul during the game, and the NBA did not retroactively assess a flagrant.
Had Wembanyama been given a flagrant from Game 3 (on top of the one he did have assessed Wednesday), he would’ve been suspended for one game for accumulating four flagrant points in the postseason.
The decision not to give him a flagrant for his Game 3 actions shocked and angered New Yorkers everywhere and led to The Post declaring Wembanyama a wanted man for “Crimes against the Knicks.”
Even Knicks owner James Dolan agreed with the front page during an interview with WFAN on Wednesday afternoon.
“So, I’m a Governor of the NBA, right, I’m restricted and bound by the rules of the NBA, of which there are a lot. There’s little that I can say,” Dolan said. “I will say if you read the cover of The New York Post today, I think they got it right. Hopefully, that won’t get me in trouble.”
Prior to tip-off, Wembanyama was mercilessly booed during Wednesday’s pregame introductions.
