Victor Wembanyama was ejected from Game 4 against the Timberwolves on Sunday after throwing an elbow into Naz Reid's throat while being aggressively swarmed by Jaden McDaniels and Reid. The 22-year-old was assessed a Flagrant 2, but he will not face any additional punishment.
The call came in a game the Spurs nearly won, keeping the series tied 2-2 as it headed back to San Antonio. The Timberwolves had spent much of the night roughing Wembanyama up and playing him physically, a collision course that turned one possession into the night’s defining moment. He said recently, “I refuse to carry the burden of hiding my emotions,” and Game 4 offered another glimpse of how quickly his temper and the league’s physical response can meet in the same play.
That matters because the next game arrives tonight, when San Antonio hosts Minnesota in Game 5 at 8 p.m. ET. It also arrives after Wembanyama had just celebrated his first playoff series win against the Trail Blazers, a reminder that his third season is already carrying the kind of pressure that usually comes later in a star’s rise. A possible revenge game has been floated around the matchup, but the only certainty is that Minnesota has already shown it is willing to test him every inch of the floor.
The league’s history makes the moment feel bigger than one elbow. In 1985, the New York Knicks won the first draft lottery in league history and selected Patrick Ewing, a reminder that franchise-defining big men can change the terms of a season quickly. Wembanyama is still only 22, but the expectation around him is already that he can absorb the punishment, respond to it and still decide games. Sunday showed the risk in that equation. If the Spurs get the cleaner version of him in Game 5, they may get the edge that slipped away in Game 4.
