NBA Penalizes Spurs Player for Dirty Move on Jared McCain Amid Viral Victor Wembanyama Sideline Clip

Jared McCain was victim of a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter of Game 5, the NBA ruled on Wednesday. | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

An exceptionally physical series between the Thunder and Spurs went to another level in the waning minutes of OKC’s pivotal Game 5 victory on Tuesday night.

The defending champs built up a double-digit lead in the first half and never really let go of the rope. San Antonio made a few pushes here and there to cut it down, but by the last half of the fourth quarter the game was decided. So, with just over two minutes remaining, garbage time began. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson was first to sub in his deep bench, with backups Mason Plumlee, Bismack Biyombo, Kelly Olynyk and Jordan McLaughlin hitting the floor to finish out a disappointing road loss.

Then things got a bit ugly—ugly enough the NBA felt the need to step in a day later and make sure both sides knew where the line was in terms of getting physical on the court.

On Wednesday, the league announced Plumlee had been penalized with a flagrant 1 for a hard, dirty foul on Jared McCain moments after he took the floor for San Antonio. It’s well-deserved. The veteran center loaded up and slammed into Jared McCain’s back while the latest hero for OKC was caught between setting a pick and turning towards the basket. He was in an awkward position but Plumlee definitely hit him harder than necessary, with a flying elbow on top of that.

It was called a normal foul on the floor but now Plumlee has a flagrant foul on his record for the playoffs.

Mason Plumlee hits McCain hard with an elbow to the back pic.twitter.com/VofonQMgCO

— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) May 27, 2026

There was a ton of buzz around that Plumlee foul and it’s not a big surprise the NBA took a second look at it. Nobody should be getting clobbered with the game out of reach. But this particular instance has taken on a life of its own due to a viral clip of Victor Wembanyama walking off the floor just before it all occurred.

The Spurs superstar was trudging off the court after his team had accepted defeat, but before heading to the bench appeared to hold a brief conference with Plumlee and Biyombo. Obviously there are any number of things Wemby could have been talking about with his veteran teammates—but NBA fans, always quick to conspiracy, thought the star center wanted to send a message. The fact that Plumlee crashed into McCain (and Biyombo picked up his own hard foul on the Thunder guard) further stoked the fires.

Victor Wembanyama whispers something to Mason Plumlee and Bismack Biyombo as they check into garbage time. Both players instantly pick up hard fouls on Jared McCain, and pick one foul on Alex Caruso.

Execute Order 66?

This video also contains the fouls, with replays that were… pic.twitter.com/JRWtEA82Oe

— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) May 27, 2026

Playoff basketball is always physical—but Plumlee crossed the line, and the above clip of Wembanyama has plenty of fans wondering about his involvement. It doesn’t help that Wembanyama skipped media availabilty after the game so there was no opportunity to ask him about it.

It was enough of a rough foul that McCain expressed shock about it after the game, and shared the interaction he had with Plumlee afterwards.

“That was crazy,” McCain said. “I didn’t expect it, obviously. We were at the free throw line too and I was like, ‘Why’d you do that, man?’ I was just asking the question. And he was like, ‘I got another one for you too.’ ... It’s all a competition, gotta respect it.”

The real message the NBA is sending is to keep it in-bounds for Game 6. If the Thunder feel the Spurs went out of their way to be physical at the end of Game 5 they are going to come into Game 6 looking to send a message of their own, even while holding a 3–2 lead. The league and its fans enjoy the heightened level of contact permitted in the postseason but going too far can have big-time consequences when everyone’s adrenaline is pumping as they fight for a trip to the Finals.

We’ll see how the next game unfolds in light of this development and the generally intense physicality the series has brought to the table.

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