Spurs star Victor Wembanyama will not face any further discipline for elbowing Minnesota’s Naz Reid and will play in Game 5 against the Timberwolves in San Antonio, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Wembanyama was whistled for an offensive foul in Sunday night’s Game 4 loss as soon as he struck Reid, who had swarmed the NBA Defensive Player of the Year outside the paint along with Wolves teammate Jaden McDaniels after the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama rebounded a missed 3-pointer by the Spurs.
After a video review of the hit — which caught Reid on the right side of his jaw and neck area, sending him spinning and crashing to the floor — referee Zach Zarba announced the call was upgraded to a flagrant foul 2 for excessive contact above the neck.
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That penalty triggers an automatic ejection.
Sitting on the bench when the penalty was announced, Wembanyama appeared to ask teammate Harrison Barnes, “What does that mean?”
Wembanyama’s ejection with 8:39 left in the second quarter is the earliest an All-Star has been tossed from a playoff game in the play-by-play era (since 1997-98), according to ESPN Research, and teams have now gone 1-8 when an All-Star is ejected from a playoff game before the fourth quarter.
The Western Conference semifinals series is tied 2-2 after Minnesota’s 114-109 win at home Sunday.
ESPN’s Michael C. Wright contributed to this report.
