Forget Superstar Treatment, Wemby's Violent Elbow Warrants Suspension

Victor Wembanyama will not be suspended for the vicious elbow he delivered to Naz Reid's throat on Sunday night, but he should've been.

Heralded as a composed competitor, something spurred Wembanyama to aggressively load his elbow, blast it into Reid's neck, and follow through like a fighter delivering a knockout punch. He was appropriately assessed a Flagrant 2 foul and ejected from Game 4. More discipline was warranted, but the league decided against punishing the 22-year-old star further.

Stephen A. Smith:

“We all know the only reason if Wemby doesn’t get suspended is because he’s Victor Wembyanama and everybody wants to see him play. That might save him, but the play itself warrants a suspension for game 5.”

(via @FirstTake, h/t @NBA__Courtside) pic.twitter.com/RifBBXBxqr
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 11, 2026

There's precedent for suspensions being handed out to players who load up and deliver elbows to an opponent above the shoulders, and the two best examples are playoff incidents involving former NBA players J.R. Smith and Udonis Haslem.

In the 2013 playoffs, Smith, playing for the Cavaliers, was ejected and suspended for one game after he elbowed Celtics guard Jason Terry in the jaw. It was a solid elbow, but didn't look as vicious as the one Wemby hit Reid with on Sunday night.

In 2012, Haslem, playing for the Heat, brought two arms down on Tyler Hansbrough's head and shoulders while defending a shot near the rim. It was clearly intentional, and the result was an ejection and one-game suspension. But again, Haslem's retaliatory hard foul wasn't as blatant as Wembanyama's elbow.

Wemby should not get a free pass because he's a superstar, but he did.

"They better do it. And if they don't, it's going to be a horrible look on Adam Silver and the NBA if they allow him to get away with this without suspending him for Game 5," ESPN's Kendrick Perkins said on Monday morning. "He looked Naz Reid in the eye, and lined him up, and hit him with a vicious elbow that could've caused serious injuries to that man."

"They better do it. And if they don't, it's going to be a horrible look on Adam Silver and the NBA if they allow him to get away with this. ... Wemby should be suspended for a Game 5."@KendrickPerkins says he wants Wemby suspended for Game 5 for elbowing Naz Reid 😳 👀 pic.twitter.com/AvivXKRp8p
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 11, 2026

Smith and Haslem are good examples because they didn't carry the baggage and laundry list of past violations that Ron Artest (Metta World Peace) and Draymond Green had when they were suspended for throwing elbows and punches. Smith did serve a 10-game suspension for his involvement in a 2006 on-court brawl, but the rest of his misgivings were off the court.

In 2023, the league disciplined Green with a 12-game suspension for flailing his arms and punching Jusuf Nurkic in the head during the regular season. One year earlier, Metta World Peace was hit with a seven-game suspension for elbowing James Harden in the head. Six of his seven games were served during the playoffs.

In February 2016, ex-Miami center Hassan Whiteside elbowed former Spurs big man Boban Marjanovic in the head and got a one-game suspension. Watch the replay, and you'll once again see that Whiteside's elbow wasn't even close to as violent as the one Wemby hit Reid with in Game 4.

Here's a brief video compilation of "above the shoulder” contact incidents. The first example- J.R. Smith on Jason Terry- resulted in both an ejection and a one-game suspension.

The next two clips are among the most extreme examples, each leading to multi-game suspensions.… https://t.co/xGBPC1Lucz pic.twitter.com/pTdVFKOSBW
— SpursRΞPORTΞR (@SpursReporter) May 11, 2026

Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson didn't help Wemby's cause when he told reporters after the game that he's glad Wemby stood up for himself after three-plus games of physical basketball.

"In general, I do think it’s getting to a point that 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 going to have to protect himself,” Johnson said. “We’ve been asking him to do that for a while. Naz Reid was okay, and that call was warranted, but in terms of the game plan of every single team we face 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."

Meanwhile, Wolves head coach Chris Finch said they didn't plan to frustrate Wembanyama.

"That wasn't necessarily the plan of attack. We wanted to be physical in every way we could. I don't know if it was a frustration thing or not," he said.

How does Reid feel about it all?

"Pain is weakness leaving the body. That's it," Reid said.

Frustration is part of the game. Others have been suspended in the playoffs for lesser actions, so the league had no reason not to suspend Wembanyama for Game 5 in San Antonio. Alas, they gave him a free pass, and the Wolves will have beat the Spurs with him in the lineup on Tuesday night.

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