It wasn’t the 2007 Robert Horry hip check on Steve Nash, but Victor Wembanyama’s flagrant foul on Naz Reid Sunday night had some similarities: playoff Game 4s, lost composure, and a Spurs player ejected.
The ejection marked Wemby’s first of his career. His elbow to Reid’s neck came in the second quarter and put pressure on the Spurs to perform without their generational superstar. When the final buzzer sounded, the Spurs fell 114-109.
Now the question is, what, if any, are the consequences of Wemby’s unnecessary and excessive contact with Reid? At halftime, former NBA star and NBC analyst Carmelo Anthony wondered if the flagrant foul would lead to Wemby facing further discipline. Could Wemby be suspended for at least one more game in the Spurs-Wolves series?
“Forget this game, what happens next game?” Anthony asked. “Will Wemby be there next game – if [the league] really look[s] at something like that?”
According to Sports Illustrated, the NBA uses a point system in both the regular season and post-season to track flagrant fouls.
A Flagrant 2, like the one Wemby was assessed, earns two points, an automatic ejection and a minimum $2,000 fine. Players receive a one-game suspension after accruing four flagrant points across the duration of the playoffs.
San Antonio Express-News Spurs reporter Jeff McDonald posted that the NBA would review the play on Monday.
“The question now is whether he will be available for Game 5,” McDonald wrote.
He clarified that “it is standard operating procedure” for the NBA to review “all flagrant fouls” and added that the NBA’s discipline czar, James Jones, has discretion on whether more punishment is warranted, which could include a suspension.
One person who doesn’t think Wemby deserves any further punishment is Spurs’ coach Mitch Johnson. When asked during the post-game press conference if he thinks there is a possibility that Wemby will be suspended for Game 5, he said it would be “ridiculous” if that happened.
“I don’t even know the legality or the rules, but there was zero intent,” he said. “[The refs] did what they did because of the outcome of the play.”
Until that decision is made in the NBA front office, Game 5 on Tuesday will be on all the players’ minds, including Wemby’s. We’ll just have to see if the Alien is available for what is sure to be another slugfest.