{"id":1928389,"date":"2026-05-11T00:30:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T21:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1928389"},"modified":"2026-05-11T00:30:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T21:30:17","slug":"victor-wembanyama-ejected-from-spurs-timberwolves-game-4-after-elbowing-naz-reid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1928389","title":{"rendered":"Victor Wembanyama ejected from Spurs-Timberwolves Game 4 after elbowing Naz Reid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 In a sudden twist in a competitive playoff series, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul in the second quarter of Sunday\u2019s Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

With just under nine minutes remaining in the first half, the Timberwolves\u2019 physicality finally got to the Spurs star. Wembanyama grabbed a rebound over Naz Reid, and appeared to get hit as he gathered the ball while swarmed by Reid and Timberwolves wing Jaden McDaniels. Wembanyama then looked over his shoulder and swung his elbow into Reid\u2019s throat, sending the Wolves big man to the ground.<\/p>\n

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After a review of several minutes \u2014 during which Timberwolves fans chanted, \u201cThrow him out!\u201d \u2014 officials deemed the play to be excessive and above the shoulders, qualifying for a flagrant 2 penalty and an automatic ejection. It is the first ejection of Wembanyama\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

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Victor Wembanyama was given a flagrant 2 for this elbow on Naz Reid. pic.twitter.com\/nYszYUspwJ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) May 11, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When the decision was made, NBC\u2019s cameras<\/a> caught Wembanyama appearing to turn to teammate Harrison Barnes to ask what a flagrant 2 foul meant. Barnes whispered an answer in Wembanyama\u2019s ear, to which the Spurs star appeared to respond, \u201cI\u2019m ejected,\u201d while pointing to his chest.<\/p>\n

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After he was disqualified from the game, Wembanyama went to his teammates, high-fiving every player and staff member he could find on the bench and clapping to encourage them. His ejection came with the Wolves holding a slim lead and backup center Luke Kornet struggling in his minutes for most of the series.<\/p>\n

The incident was an uncharacteristic move from Wembanyama, who is known for controlling his emotions on and off the floor. He typically plays with a quiet intensity, with bursts of emotion emerging in big moments. He has rarely been part of any sort of physical altercation, much less instigated one, as he did in this instance.<\/p>\n

But the Timberwolves have one of the NBA\u2019s most physical defenses, and Wembanyama has been complaining to officials about their aggressive play throughout the series. It appears this moment finally put him over the edge.<\/p>\n

The Spurs entered Sunday\u2019s game with a 2-1 lead in the series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 In a sudden twist in a competitive playoff series, San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul in the second quarter of Sunday\u2019s Game 4 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. With just under nine minutes remaining in the first half, the Timberwolves\u2019 physicality finally got to the Spurs star. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1928389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1928389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1928389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1928389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1928389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}