The NBA took care of its superstar.
That’s the general consensus from the NBA social media community after the league did not charge Victor Wembanyama with a flagrant foul for shoving Jalen Brunson in the face during Game 3.
The NBA did not call a foul on the play during San Antonio’s 115-111 win on Monday, and then passed on assessing him one upon reviewing the play.
“No way the NBA was going to do the correct thing and upgrade Wemby’s uncalled foul to the flagrant on Jalen Brunson that it was obviously glaringly was,” famous sports pundit Skip Bayless posted to X.
“The Alien is now the face of the league the new ratings magnet, the most protected player in the NBA. This is exhibit A.”
Wembanyama may not be a Trae Young-level villain to Knicks fans quite yet, but he’s Public Enemy No. 1 at the moment after shoving Brunson.
As Brunson stood near the 7-foot-4 big man from France in the first quarter, Wembanyama shoved the back of Brunson’s head, which sent the much smaller Knick toward the court.
Brunson raised from the floor quickly and went toward Wembanyama, who smirked while play continued since the referees did not call a foul.
NBA senior vice president of referee operations Monty McCutchen told ESPN on Tuesday: “I think we can all agree a foul was missed on that play.”
The post-game review allowed for the NBA to upgrade the foul if the league deemed it necessary, and that review meant quite a bit since Wembanyama is at risk of being suspended for flagrant fouls.
He has two points this postseason and receiving a flagrant two foul would disqualify him for the next game, while a pair of flagrant one fouls would also lead to him missing a game.
ESPN reporter Shams Charania’s tweet revealing the league’s decision drew considerable backlash from Knicks fan.
One Knicks-centric accounted tweeted: “Golden boy.”
Another X user wrote: “This is the 2nd egregious action he’s had with no consequence this playoffs. It’s honestly comical.”
One account posted: “It was obvious Wemby wasn’t getting suspended for Game 4. The NBA isn’t dumb they know global viewership would’ve taken a massive hit without the generational talented Wemby in MSG tonight.”
All eyes will now be on the referees Wednesday night with a spotlight on how they call the pivotal Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.
Knicks coach Mike Brown already has tried greasing the referees for a more favorable whistle by complaining about the 24-8 free-throw advantage for the Spurs in the second half of Game 3.
“I never thought I would be in the NBA Finals and see a team get 24 free-throw attempts in the second half to another team’s eight,” Brown said. “I don’t think I complain much about officials or the fairness when it comes to the free-throw attempts. San Antonio is a great team. They are a great team, OK. It’s going to lower our odds big time, big time, if we play Game 4 and in the second half, they get 24 free-throw attempts to our eight. Maybe we were fouling. Maybe we were fouling. But they fouled, too.”