After Wemby’s ejection, Spurs coach calls out refs for how star center is officiated

Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was ejected from Game 4 against the Timberwolves on Sunday for elbowing Naz Reid. The incident happened early in the second quarter after Wembanyama reached over the top of Reid for a rebound. 

As Reid aggressively boxed Wembanyama out, the Spurs center got tangled up with Mike Conley and Jaden McDaniels. Wembanyama then threw a clear elbow that connected squarely with Reid’s chin. After review, the referees assessed Wembanyama a Flagrant 2 foul, and he was ejected from the game. Take a look:

This was the first ejection of Wembanyama’s career, and it cost the Spurs dearly as Minnesota wound up winning the game, 114-109, to even the series 2-2 ahead of Game 5 on Tuesday in San Antonio. 

Will Wembanyama be a part of that game? We’ll see. The league could suspend him. It was a pretty vicious elbow on Reid. It’s hard to imagine the league making a ruling like that for such a marquee player in such a pivotal playoff game, but on the action alone, it wouldn’t be unwarranted. 

The ejection already was, in fact, the earliest an All-Star player has been ejected from a playoff game since at least 1997.

The elbow that Wembanyama threw didn’t occur in a vacuum. He’s been clearly frustrated by the level of physicality that has been applied to him in these playoffs and the lack of calls he has gotten as a result. Through the first two games of the series, he only went to the free-throw line a combined five times, but it should be noted that over 50% of his attempts in those games were from beyond the 3-point line. 

Once Wembanyama started attacking inside in Game 3, he went to the line 12 times. That’s not to say he hasn’t been getting a tough whistle. Big guys almost always get hit more than they get rewarded for by the refs. 

Spurs coach calls out how Wemby is officiated

Listening to Spurs coach Mitch Johnson following Game 4, it sounds like Wembanyama’s reaction on Sunday was, at least in part, one of frustration over the way Minnesota has gotten away with getting physical with him and the Spurs as a whole in this series. 

“In general, I do think it’s getting to the point that if the people that are in charge of controlling the game, and protecting the physicality of the game, don’t do that, then at some point [Wembanyama] is going to have to protect himself. We’ve been asking him to do that for a while.

“So, that call with Naz Reid was OK, and it sounded like the call was warranted,” Johnson continued, “but in terms of the game plan of every single team we’ve faced since [Wembanyama] has been in the league and the physicality that people try to impose on him, and the lack of protection, is really disappointing. At some level, it’s starting to get actually disgusting. 

“… I’m glad he took matters into his own hands,” Johnson concluded. “Not in terms of hitting Naz Reid. I want to be very clear about that. I didn’t want him to elbow [Reid]. But he’s going to have to protect himself if [the officials are not going to]. And I think it’s disgusting.”

So here we go with the all-too-familiar “coach thinks his star player gets a terrible whistle” rant. JJ Redick said after the Lakers’ Game 2 loss to the Thunder that LeBron James gets “the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen.” Go talk to Warriors fans about the way Stephen Curry gets mauled off the ball without getting very many calls, or Nuggets fans about Nikola Jokić’s whistle. Jaylen Brown believes he’s under a personal attack by the refs. 

In other words, nothing new here. Wemby is going to face physical defense for the rest of his career because the only chance opponents have to even marginally disrupt a human skyscraper. He’ll probably never get the benefit of the type of whistle he or his coaches and teammates believe he should. 

But right now, Johnson is just hoping to have some influence over the way Wemby is officiated for the rest of this series, and if you’re a Spurs fan, hopefully beyond. Frankly, he’s most concerned with making this sound as justifiable as possible to avoid Wemby getting suspended for Game 5. 

“There was no intent,” Johnson said when asked about the possibility of a suspension. “… I think it would be ridiculous.” 

But the fact is, even if Wemby plays in Game 5 and beyond, this series is an official dogfight. The Wolves are way tougher than most anyone gave them credit for entering these playoffs. Even the loss of Donte DiVincenzo hasn’t altered their high-pressure, defensive, no-back-down identity. They won Game 1 of this series even though Anthony Edwards didn’t start and was on a minutes restriction and Ayo Dosunmu didn’t play. 

The Spurs, who managed to beat Portland in Game 3 of their first-round series while Wemby was out with a concussion, were in a solid position to steal Game 4 even after Wembanyama went out. They led by eight in the fourth quarter, but the Wolves outscored them 28-15 over the final 8:51. They may end up regretting not closing this one out.