The NBA has completed a review of Victor Wembanyama's flagrant 2 penalty for an elbow to the neck of Naz Reid and subsequent ejection, and has decided not to proceed with further discipline — no suspension or fine is coming, something first reported by Shams Charania at ESPN and confirmed by NBC Sports.
Wembanyama was ejected in the second quarter of Game 2 after he battled with Reid for a rebound and, after securing the ball, threw an elbow that hit Reid in the neck.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson stuck up for his star after the game, including saying of a suspension, "There was zero intent … I think it would be ridiculous." He then went on to say that teams are intentionally very physical with Wembanyama to throw him off his game, and that the Frenchman is allowed to defend himself.
"At some point, he's going to have to protect himself. We've been asking (the officials) to do that now for a while… the lack of protection is really disappointing. At some level, it's starting to get actually disgusting."
Despite the feelings in Minnesota, a suspension was never likely — postseason suspensions are based on a points system counting flagrant fouls, and Wemby isn't close to that mark. This Flagrant 2 gives Wemby two points, but it takes four (another Flagrant 2 or two Fragrant 1 fouls) for him to get there. This is similar to why Nikola Jokic did not come close to a suspension after an altercation and ejection in the first round. (For clarification, flagrant foul points and technical foul points are counted separately, but both can lead to a suspension.) Also, Wembanyama does not have the lengthy history of incidents like this compared to someone such as Draymond Green (despite what Green thinks).
However, no fine for Wembanyama was more of a surprise to many around the league, but was there a reasonable fine the league could have levied that would have been a deterrent in the future? The prospect of a possible future suspension is the real deterrent.
Behind a strong finish from Anthony Edwards and some key late plays from Ayo Dosunmu, the Timberwolves came back on the Spurs to win Game 4, 114-109, to even the series 2-2.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in San Antonio at 8 ET, you can watch it on NBC or stream it on Peacock.
