San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama will not face further discipline from the NBA for elbowing Minnesota's Naz Reid in Game 4 of the teams' Western Conference semifinal series, a person with knowledge of the league's decision said Monday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league did not publicly release any details of its evaluation and investigative process.
Wembanyama will be eligible to play Game 5 on Tuesday in San Antonio. The series is tied at two games apiece.
Wembanyama was ejected from the Spurs-Timberwolves game on Sunday night because of the elbow, which he threw early in the second quarter after getting tangled with Reid and Minnesota's Jaden McDaniels while grabbing a rebound. Wembanyama swung his arms and his elbow struck Reid in the face.
Officials looked at the play and upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2, which comes with automatic ejection. Wembanyama was seen on the bench after the decision was announced, appearing to ask teammates what a Flagrant 2 means.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said after the game that Wembanyama “gets hit on every play."
“At some level, you have to protect yourself,” Johnson said. “Every single play on every single part of the floor, people are trying to impose their physicality on him. I get it. We get it. That's part of the game. ... At some stage, he should be protected and if not, he's going to have to protect himself. And unfortunately, stuff like that happens.”
It was the first ejection of Wembanyama's career and, according to Sportradar, it was only the third flagrant foul for the French center — this season's unanimous pick as Defensive Player of the Year and an MVP finalist.
The NBA reviews all plays and typically exercises the right to upgrade, downgrade or rescind flagrant fouls and technical fouls after the fact. In this case, the person with knowledge said, Sunday's play will stand as called.
