Draymond Green believes Victor Wembanyama has been given unusual room by the NBA during a physical and controversial playoff run.
The San Antonio Spurs trail the New York Knicks 3-1 in the NBA Finals, and the last thing they can afford is losing Wembanyama for even one game.
Green, who knows better than most how postseason discipline can shape a series, thinks the league has shown restraint.
"Listen, I'm not one that wants to see series decided by suspensions. That's not good for anyone. It leaves a lot of questions, a lot of what-ifs. I don't enjoy that. I will say, he's been shown a lot of grace. He probably should be suspended at some point, or should have been already, but he's been shown a lot of grace. But I agree with the grace. We want to see Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs vs. the Knicks. Not the Spurs sans Victor Wembanyama against the Knicks."
Green is not calling for Wembanyama to be removed from the series, but he believes the conversation around his actions is becoming unavoidable.
The list of incidents began against Minnesota , where Wembanyama was ejected for a Flagrant 2 after elbowing Naz Reid above the shoulders. The NBA chose not to add a suspension.
In the Finals, the scrutiny has continued. The league declined to upgrade Wembanyama's shove on Jalen Brunson in Game 3, despite admitting a foul was missed.
Then in Game 4, Wembanyama was assessed a Flagrant 1 for elbowing Karl-Anthony Towns in the chin. That moved him to three flagrant points in the postseason, just one away from an automatic one-game suspension.
Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
Every collision now feels more significant. Wembanyama is the Spurs' best player, their defensive anchor and their main hope of turning the series around.
San Antonio already need three straight wins, starting with Game 5, and a Wembanyama suspension would all but hand the Knicks the title.
There is also a commercial reality. The Finals are a better product with Wembanyama on court, especially with the Knicks just one win away from their first title since 1973.
But if the French center keeps testing the limits, the NBA may eventually have no choice but to act.
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