It’s unfair, but Victor Wembanyama has to be bigger person

This would’ve been a very different game had Victor Wembanyama been on the floor for most of it. The San Antonio Spurs wasted a chance to take a commanding 3-1 series lead on Sunday, May 10 over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals when Wembanyama’s second quarter ejection sabotaged their efforts. Wembanyama, 22, is a bright, young player, one who has been transparent about his relative inexperience in playoff basketball.

Treat this as another lesson, rather unfairly, that he’ll have to learn. Because not only did Wembanyama miss two and a half quarters of an eventual five-point loss, he might face further discipline from the NBA league office, including a possible suspension . With Game 5 set for Tuesday, May 12 , the NBA is expected to review the incident and make any determination on discipline by Monday evening.

And if Wembanyama does indeed face a suspension in Game 5, the series might very well slip away from the Spurs. No team is better than the Timberwolves at annoying opposing players, getting under their skin to force them to respond in ways that are uncharacteristic. Jaden McDaniels, an all-world defender and sometimes-troll, is the perfect example.

McDaniels, one series after he called out the entire Denver Nuggets by name for being “all bad defenders,” joined teammate Naz Reid in the second quarter on Sunday night, pestering Wembanyama to the point of frustration that prompted the Spurs phenom to throw a reckless elbow at Reid’s throat. It was a dangerous play, and Reid and Wembanyama are both fortunate that the elbow appeared to catch Reid’s collarbone before striking his throat. And, to be completely fair to Wembanyama, McDaniels and Reid were aggressively harassing Wembanyama, and he should have the right to protect himself.