Lost in the buzz around Victor Wembanyama getting ejected in the second quarter of Sunday’s Game 5 against Minnesota was a moment, captured on air by NBC, in which the third-year San Antonio star could be seen asking a teammate what the ruling by the referees meant.
After the officials called a Flagrant 2 foul on Wembanyama’s shot to Timberwolves forward Naz Reid’s head, cameras caught Wembanyama asking fellow Spur Harrison Barnes to clarify. Barnes can be seen in the clip telling Wembanyama that the foul was a Flagrant 2, meaning he was ejected from the game.
In response, Wembanyama stands up and walks away.
Was it the buzz of the Minnesota crowd? Did something get lost in translation with the Frenchman?
Or, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Tim MacMahon argued on Monday, was the young superstar merely showboating?
“For as cerebral and as well-versed as Victor is, do we honestly believe that he didn’t know?” Windhorst asked in a postgame edition of his podcast, The Hoop Collective.
“He knew the camera was on him,” McMahon interrupted.
“Buddy, you know a Flagrant 2 gets you tossed. Come on. You’re in your third year in the league, stop.”
While Sunday’s incident was Wembanyama’s first NBA ejection ever, it does seem a bit absurd that a generational basketball star would not know such a basic rule of the game. And even if he had misheard the referees over the arena’s PA system, once Barnes answered that he had been hit with a Flagrant 2, Wembanyama would have known the outcome.
By Monday morning on Get Up, Windhorst had fleshed out his position.
“To act like he didn’t know what the results were on the bench, Victor is one of the smartest young players I’ve ever come across,” the longtime ESPN reporter said. “He knew exactly what he had done, he knows exactly what happens on a Flagrant 2 foul.”
Whether Wembanyama truly knew the NBC cameras were watching him or he just was acting out of frustration, the reaction didn’t help his cause after a lapse in judgment had just resulted in an ejection. Once the Timberwolves notched the comeback win with Wembanyama in the locker room, every element of the ejection was bound to be scrutinized.
The incident will likely be a learning lesson for the 22-year-old prodigy, including the fact that the media will fixate on the fallout just as much as the actual mistake.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.