NBA Clears Wembanyama of Suspension After Ejection for Elbow on Reid

Victor Wembanyama’s first career ejection will carry no suspension. The NBA decided against punishing the San Antonio Spurs center for the elbow he threw at Minnesota Timberwolves forward Naz Reid during Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinals series.

Wembanyama is available for Game 5 on Tuesday night, according to ESPN.

Officials first called an offensive foul when Wembanyama, double-teamed in the corner after grabbing a rebound, struck Reid in the face with his elbow. Video review showed the contact landed squarely on Reid’s jaw and neck, knocking him to the floor.

Officials upgraded the foul to a Flagrant 2 for excessive contact above the neck, resulting in an automatic ejection with 8:39 left in the second quarter. That marked the earliest ejection for an NBA All-Star in a playoff game since the 1997-98 season, per ESPN Research.

The Spurs lost 114-109, tying the series at two games each heading into Game 5 in San Antonio.

Spurs coach Mitch Johnson defended the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama in his postgame news conference. He highlighted the physical play Wembanyama faces from opponents.

"Just the amount of physicality that people play with him, at some level, you have to protect yourself," Johnson said, via ESPN. "Every single play on every single part of the floor, people are trying to impose their physicality on you. He's gotten pushed down in transition, running freely. We don't complain because we're just going to play. We don't really give a s---. But at some stage, he should be protected. If not, he's going to have to protect himself, and unfortunately, stuff like that happens."

"It's starting to get disgusting in terms of when he tries to fight through things, be professional and mature and deal with some of that stuff," Johnson added. "I'm glad he took matters into his own hands. Not in terms of hitting Naz Reid, but he's going to have to protect himself if they're not. And I think it's disgusting."

Johnson said there was "zero intent" in Wembanyama’s elbow and called a potential Game 5 suspension "ridiculous." The league made the final call and cleared Wembanyama to play.