Victor Wembanyama Addresses Naz Reid Elbow That Led to Ejection in Game 4: ‘We’ve Got to Move on’

Victor Wembanyama came out like a man possessed in Game 5 and his energy carried the Spurs to victory. The superstar center recorded 27 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and three blocks as San Antonio ran away with the victory to go up 3–2 on the Timberwolves. It was another outstanding postseason performance from the young center—and one that definitely qualified as a bounceback showing after he got tossed in Game 4.

The last time the Spurs took the court, Wembanyama elbowed Minnesota center Naz Reid hard enough to earn himself a flagrant-2 foul and an ejection. While his teammates did their best they couldn’t pull out the win sans their best player and the Wolves won to even the series at 2–2. It was Wemby’s first career ejection and, obviously, couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Tuesday’s game meant Wembanyama would face reporters for the first time since elbowing Reid. He brushed off a question about it on the court immediately following Game 5’s win but, unsurprisingly, was asked a few follow-up questions during his postgame availability in the press room. The 22-year-old refused to get into any details about the incident but did give a frank response when asked if he had reflected on what happened and if he had any regrets.

“I mean, it was two games ago,” Wembanyama said. “It’s the playoffs. I’m focused, I was focused on the game today and now I’m focused on the game in Minnesota in three days. It’s the playoffs. We’ve got to move on and I’ve got to care about my team.”

Despite the violent nature of the elbow, both teams seemed to have mostly adopted the same mindset of just moving on. Wembanyama’s Spurs teammates didn’t touch upon the situation too much before Game 4 and even the Timberwolves acknowledged they didn’t expect Wemby to get suspended for it (nor would they want him to) so they were just looking to try to win on Tuesday night.

The two centers were plenty physical again in Game 5. Reid, like the rest of the Minnesota roster, was hammering Wembanyama with body blows whenever they were legally allowed to do so and nearly took the Spurs star out of the air while trying to block his dunk attempt after a whistle. But nothing crossed the line; it was just good old-fashioned playoff physicality.

And thus, that seems to be the end of it. Wembanyama could have kept the story alive by offering one of his typically thoughtful quotes on the incident but instead kept his answer laser-focused on Game 6. And it seems the Wolves were happy to earn Game 4’s win as the only retaliation for elbowing one of the team’s more beloved figures.

There remains a possibility for fireworks in Game 6 on Friday night; in the playoffs there’s always that chance. But there is no semblance of bad blood or frustration stemming from that elbow from either side at this point.

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