{"id":625798,"date":"2026-05-06T00:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/625798\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T00:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T00:06:08","slug":"wembanyama-accused-of-obvious-illegal-blocking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/625798\/","title":{"rendered":"Wembanyama accused of ‘obvious’ illegal blocking"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Antonio Spurs<\/a> superstar Victor Wembanyama was accused Tuesday by the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> of repeated illegal goaltending violations during their first NBA playoff clash.<\/p>\n

French 7-foot-4 (2.24m) phenom Wembanyama had put in a historic defensive performance in the Spurs’ Western semi-final game-one loss to Minnesota, making an all-time postseason record 12 blocks.<\/p>\n

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But Timberwolves coach Chris Finch on Tuesday told reporters that “at least four” of Wembanyama’s blocks should have been ruled fouls by match officials.<\/p>\n

“Obviously he had a historic night, but when we looked at them, at least four of them were goaltending, maybe even a fifth,” said Finch.<\/p>\n

“To me, it’s a little alarming that none of them were called. Here’s a generational shot blocker who’s seven-foot-six, who goes after everything, and there’s no heightened awareness that these blocks could be goal tends?”<\/p>\n

While basketball players can block shots in most circumstances, it is illegal to touch the ball if it is already on a downward trajectory and it is either directly above the net rim, or has already touched the backboard.<\/p>\n

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“I mean, the third possession of the game was a goaltend, and it was a clean, obvious one,” said Finch.<\/p>\n

“So let’s just say there were four. That’s eight points. You know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It is massive.”<\/p>\n

The Timberwolves won the game 104-102, but the Spurs remain favorites to win the series, having finished the regular season five places higher than Minnesota, and with 13 more wins.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama is one of three finalists for this year’s NBA Most Valuable Player award, and has already been unanimously named this year’s Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

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At just 22, “Wemby” is already positioned to be one of the NBA’s biggest superstars for years to come.<\/p>\n

Finch said his team had not complained directly to the league as “it’s kind of a bit of a waste of time because it doesn’t really change the outcomes.”<\/p>\n

“Again, it’s just alarming that not a single one of them was called… \u00a0I think they’re pretty obvious when you look at them,” he added.<\/p>\n

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