Is Spurs' Victor Wembanyama Suspended for Game 5 vs. Timberwolves?

Any series involving the Minnesota Timberwolves is extremely physical.

So, San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama wrestling for a rebound was an expected sight on Sunday night. Wembanyama pausing, winding up, and clocking Minnesota’s Naz Reid in the throat? Not so much.

Wembanyama was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and ejected from Game 4 of the Spurs and Wolves’ Western Conference semifinals series with 8:39 left in the second quarter. It marked his first ejection since entering the NBA as the No. 1 overall pick in 2023.

The two-time All-Star and newly crowned unanimous Defensive Player of the Year had to watch from the back as his Spurs lost 114-109, drawing the series even at 2-2. A question loomed larger than Wembanyama’s 7-foot-4 frame: Would he be suspended for Game 5?

“There will be no further discipline for Spurs star Victor Wembanyama after he was ejected for elbowing Naz Reid in Minnesota on Sunday night, sources tell ESPN,” Shams Charania posted on X on Monday morning. “No suspension, no fine. Wembanyama will play in Game 5 against the Timberwolves on Tuesday night in San Antonio.”

Wembanyama was not made available to the media after Game 4, but Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson came to Wemby’s defense.

“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, he’s gonna have to protect himself,” Johnson said during his postgame presser. “We’ve been asking them to do that for a while. So, I’m glad Naz Reid was OK. It sounded like the call was warranted, but in terms of the game plan of every single team we’ve faced since that young man 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.”

Johnson added, “I’m glad he took matters into his own hands. Again, not in terms of hitting Naz Reid. I want to be very clear about that. I’m glad Naz Reid was OK, and I didn’t want him to elbow him, but he’s gonna have to protect himself if they’re not. And I think it’s disgusting.”

As if there weren’t already built-in animosity present in any playoff series, animus figures to be overflowing at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio on Tuesday night.

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This story was originally published May 11, 2026 at 1:37 PM.