According to ESPN reports, “there will be no further discipline” for Spurs star Victor Wembanyama after he was ejected for elbowing Naz Reid in Minnesota on Sunday night in San Antonio.
And honestly, that’s how it should be. Selfish Minnesota Timberwolves fans and OKC fans, for that matter, would have liked to see Wembanyama suspended a few games for his elbow to the face of Reid in a heated NBA playoff contest.
NBA Did Right Thing Not Punishing Wembanyama Further
Any further penalty would have been a terrible look for the NBA. Wembanyama is considered the league’s unicorn force and quickly becoming one of the faces of the NBA. He’s one of the most unique players in NBA history and his presence on the court is mandatory, if healthy, for the NBA to put out a product that is top shelf, what the fans want to see and free of any asterisks or negative speculation that might arise from the Spurs’ best player being kept off the court in a 2-2 series.
Naturally, the NBA world reacted to the elbow, and some waited with bated breath to see if he would receive any further punishment.
“More evidence the NBA is a joke. Wemby should be out for the Series with that crap. Metta World Peace lost so much more doing the exact same thing,” one fan said, making an historical comparison to when Ron Artest laced young James Harden with a flagrant elbow.
“I know Timberwolves fans are seething that their only hope to win the series was Victor being suspended,” one fan said.
“Ejecting him seems a bit excessive,” said one X user, to which another replied, “No it doesn’t. He looked straight at him and sized up his elbow to the throat. In the 90s it would’ve been excessive. In this soft ass NBA it was the right call.”
“This is why hockey is gaining popularity. Grown men being shocked at physical contact during competition… lol,” one fan quipped.
“That strike could have easily been lethal. Criminal prosecution wouldn’t be excessive,” said another fan, dissatisfied with Wemby’s lack of punishment.
Learning Lessons That Could Cost Spurs The Series
The Spurs would have most likely won Game 4 without breaking a sweat if Wemby didn’t get tossed. The tide of the game was quickly turning.
Reid isn’t hospitalized or bloody for that matter. This is professional sports, and as much as Wemby gets fouled without benefits of the whistle, his frustration was evident on that play. He’s young. He’s playing the most physical brand of basketball he’s ever played, despite the NBA’s tight defensive rules, and he lost his cool for a moment.
The things happen in the heat of the battle, but what we don’t want to do is disrupt the entire trajectory of the series by overreacting to a spur of the moment play.
Can’t Knock Wemby For Showing Real Passion: He’s Not Euro Soft
That elbow cost the Spurs the game. It made the series way closer than it has to be and now Anthony Edwards and the Wolves are finding a groove. To lose Wemby for any more time would have spelled doom for San Antonio. NBA ratings wouldn’t have benefitted either. Now the 22-year-old baby baller can use this as a learning tool, because nobody is perfect and you surely can’t knock the Frenchman for playing with passion, and a nasty edge that many say doesn’t exist in today’s ball players.
