Victor Wembanyama had never been in this spot before.
After a Flagrant 2 foul was announced following a review when Wembanyama delivered an elbow to Naz Reid’s neck midway through the second quarter of Game 4, he needed to ask Spurs teammate Harrison Barnes, “What does that mean?”
And when Barnes answered Wembanyama’s question — a moment that was captured by the NBC broadcast — on Sunday, Wembanyama nodded, high-fived some teammates and walked away from the bench after getting ejected for the first time in his career.
The foul occurred when Reid, Wembanyama and another Timberwolves player were fighting for control of a rebound, and when Wembanyama collected possession, he wound up his elbow and directed it toward Reid at Target Center.
Reid fell toward the ground, and Wembanyama’s night ended with just four points across 12 minutes and 2-for-5 shooting from the field.
“I by no means thought it was intentional,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson told reporters postgame. “Tough break. … In general, I think it’s getting to a point where if the people that are in charge of controlling the game and protecting the physicality of the game don’t do that, then at some point he’s gonna have to protect himself. We’ve been asking him to do that now for a while.”
And with the Spurs forced to spend the final 38-plus minutes without their superstar, it altered Game 4, with the Timberwolves winning, 114-109, behind 36 points from Anthony Edwards to even the series at two games apiece.
Johnson, though, was left furious at the physicality Wembanyama has been forced to deal with — and how he has to “protect himself” on the court if the officials won’t.
“I just think that the amount of physicality that people play with with him, at some level you have to protect yourself,” Johnson told reporters. “Every single play on every single part of the floor, people are trying to impose their physicality on him.
The series now shifts back to San Antonio, with Game 5 set for Wednesday, and it’s unclear if Wembanyama will face any additional discipline following the incident.
