Victor Wembanyamawas ejected from Game 4 of the Western Conference semi-finals in Minneapolis on Sunday night after elbowing Minnesota Timberwolves centre Naz Reid in the throat, raising immediate questions over whether the San Antonio Spurs star will face suspension as the series heads back to Texas tied 2-2.
This is the first deep NBA playoff run for Wembanyama, the 22-year-old French phenom taken first overall in the 2023 draft and already regarded as the face of the Spurs' future. Minnesota have leaned on a bruising, old-fashioned style against him throughout this second-round series, rotating physical big men across the paint and testing how much contact officials are prepared to tolerate.
By the middle of the second quarter on Sunday, it appeared that tolerance had snapped, at least Wembanyama's.
After grabbing an offensive rebound following a missed three-pointer, Wembanyama was immediately trapped by Reid and Jaden McDaniels. With McDaniels pulling on his left arm, the 7ft 4in forward swung his right elbow backwards in what looked more like a frustrated shrug than a basketball move and caught Reid directly in the neck.
Target Center's reaction was instant and unforgiving. Television replays lingered on Spurs rookie Dylan Harper standing just behind the tangle of bodies, mouth open in disbelief. McDaniels clamped Wembanyama in a bear hug to prevent anything further. As referees went to the monitor, thousands of Timberwolves fans rose to their feet and chanted, with a certain grim enthusiasm, 'Kick him out!'
The officials upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2 for 'excessive contact above the neck,' an automatic ejection that disqualified Wembanyama after only 13 minutes on the floor. He left with four points, four rebounds and three fouls, a flat line on the box score for a player who had dropped 39 points on 13-of-18 shooting in Game 3.
The episode had a strange, almost surreal edge. As the decision was announced, Wembanyama appeared to turn to veteran teammate Harrison Barnes and ask, 'What does that mean?' according to the broadcast. On his way to the tunnel, he slapped hands with each of his Spurs teammates one by one while Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' blared over the arena speakers.
In pure basketball terms, the timing could hardly have been worse for San Antonio. They had wrestled back some momentum with their115-108 win in Game 3and were trying to consolidate that advantage. Instead, the ejection swung the emotional balance back towards Minnesota, who eventually closed out a 114-109 victory to square the series.
Spurs guard Dylan Harper, who matched his career high with 24 points in the defeat, chose his words carefully when asked about the foul and the increasingly rugged tone of the series.
'It was a whole lot of grabbing and pushing and shoving, but that's a part of the game,' Harper said. 'The next man has got to step up. I think we all did a great job of controlling what we can control.'
Source: International Business Times UK
