San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama was ejected in the second quarter of Sunday's Game 4 matchup against the Timberwolves.
Wembanyama was swarmed by Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels as he battled for a rebound. McDaniels pulled on the 7-foot-4 Frenchman's arm while he delivered a hard elbow to Reid's face.
Upon further review, game officials deemed the contact"excessive and unnecessary" to the head and neck area. Wembanyama was issued a flagrant 2 foul, resulting in his first career ejection. Before Monday night's Game 4 matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Lakers on Amazon Prime Video, NBA analyst Udonis Haslem went to bat for Wembanyama with a strong defense.
Haslem, a 20-year NBA veteran for the Miami Heat, provided the perspective of a player who took the court across multiple decades.
"I don't agree with anybody getting hurt or trying to hurt somebody, but I have watched these playoffs and I have watched Wemby get pushed around. I've watched Wemby get knocked down after the play. All sorts of shots being taken at Wemby," Haslem said.
"I have personally told a referee myself, 'If you don't protect me, I will protect myself,'" he added. "Sometimes you have to take a stand and draw a line in the sand, and that's what Wemby did last night. ""Just the amount of physicality that people play with him, at some level, you have to protect yourself," Johnson said. "Every single play on every single part of the floor, people are trying to impose their physicality on you.
He's gotten pushed down in transition, running freely.
"We don't complain because we're just going to play. We don't really give a . But at some stage, he should be protected. If not, he's going to have to protect himself, and unfortunately, stuff like that happens. "
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