Controversial Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green shared a surprising take about how the Minnesota Timberwolves should respond to Victor Wembanyama’s flagrant foul in the last game. Game 4 featured Wembanyama getting ejected for elbowing Naz Reid in the head to cause the San Antonio Spurs to lose and allowed Minnesota to even the series. Green decided to chime in now after it was revealed that Wembanyama would not be suspended nor fined for his ejection.
The following quote was shared on the Draymond Green Show about Minnesota needing to realize “it’s fair game” now if Wemby wasn’t fined:
“I would say to the Timberwolves, ‘Hey, guys. It’s fair game. There are no suspensions. There are no fines. This is fair game. Who’s coming out there tomorrow night and doing it to Wemby? Who’s going to elbow him in the face?’ That’s what I would be saying.”
Green showed no chill by flat out saying he’d be asking which player was going to be the one to elbow Wembanyama in Game 5. The belief from Green is that the NBA set the standard that no one should get fined or suspended for doing the same thing that he did in Game 4. NBA officials can’t be thrilled with a big name calling for violent retaliations.
Is Draymond Green Correct With His Claims?
Green thinks the NBA will be forced to be consistent and should be as lenient with other players as they are with Wembanyama after the ruling. However, all things aren’t equal, and the Timberwolves could easily see one of their players suspended for trying this.
League officials could easily argue that a Minnesota player doing it for revenge is escalating a situation from a previous game and intentionally trying to injure someone. Green’s comment felt quite dramatic that the NBA must allow Timberwolves players to get away with the same things for fairness.
History has shown superstars protected with lighter rulings and role players punished harder if they do hostile things to a star. Minnesota can’t risk losing one of their big men, with Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid too important to their overall success. Elbowing someone also ensures they’ll get extra points with a flagrant foul in a pivotal playoff game.
Both Teams Must Put This In The Past
The Minnesota vs San Antonio series reaching an even 2-2 split means that Game 5 will be a near must-win for both teams to avoid falling behind with a best of three now. San Antonio let a game get away after losing their best player and falling just short in a close Game 5.
Wembanyama must this behind him and play like a superstar to ensure his team has their best chance of reaching the Western Conference Finals. Minnesota is the underdog and can’t risk falling into the trap of thinking about revenge or physical retaliation.
Anthony Edwards must lead his team to at least one more road victory against a better team to advance to the Timberwolves’ third consecutive Western Conference Finals series. Every point matters in a game like this, and thinking about elbowing someone is just spiting their own chance of winning.
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