When Metta Sandiford-Artest elbowed James Harden in the head during the 2012 playoffs, the NBA imposed a seven-game suspension based almost entirely on his record, which included an 86-game ban for his role in the Malice at the Palace. Eight years of history had made the decision simple. On Monday, the league faced the same question with a different type of player: one with no prior history, no reputation for dirty play, and a series-ending ejection already served. The ruling was issued within 24 hours. No one in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ locker room was surprised.

The NBA announced Monday afternoon that Victor Wembanyama would face no suspension and no fine for his Flagrant 2 elbow to Naz Reid’s neck in Game 4, and will be available to play in Game 5 on Tuesday night in San Antonio. When the media asked veteran guard Mike Conley how the Wolves processed the ruling, his answer was immediate. “Honestly, I don’t think we even thought about it much at all,” Conley said. “Once the ruling came down, it was just like we expected that and just moved forward. It’s one of those things, we don’t want guys out of this game. We want to play against the best. We don’t want to have guys missing games and stuff like that. So we’re gonna be ready for the team, the best team they put out there.”

The incident itself unfolded with 8:39 left in the second quarter at Target Center. Wembanyama secured a rebound and was immediately met by a rough double-team from Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels. In a reactive, emotional response, he swung his right elbow into Reid’s neck, sending him to the hardwood. After a video review, officials upgraded the call to a Flagrant 2 for excessive contact above the neck, an automatic ejection, making it the earliest an NBA All-Star had been thrown out of a playoff game since 1997-98, per ESPN Research. The Spurs would go on to lose Game 4 without their franchise player, 114-109, as Anthony Edwards led a fourth-quarter comeback to even the series at 2-2.

The league’s rationale was laid out by ESPN’s Shams Charania shortly after the ruling. “The two major things to take into account: one, he was ejected from the game for this Flagrant 2; he missed a majority of Game 4 with that ejection. But most importantly, there’s no prior history. The NBA took that into account, certainly in this decision,” Charania said. The absence of a fine, beyond the automatic $2,000 minimum, drew more surprise in league circles than the decision on the suspension itself, with some around the league noting a more substantial financial penalty might have served as a deterrent regardless of history. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had framed his defense of Wembanyama around the physicality his player absorbs every night. “Just the amount of physicality that people play with him, at some level, you have to protect yourself,” Johnson said. “He’s gotten pushed down in transition, running freely. At some stage, he should be protected. If not, he’s going to have to protect himself, and unfortunately, stuff like that happens.”

The Series That Gets More Volatile by the Game

Conley’s calm acceptance of the ruling extended into a broader read of where this series is heading, and it was the kind of assessment only a 17-year veteran could deliver with that level of detachment. Asked how the elbow incident might shift the atmosphere as the series deepens, Conley didn’t blink. “We seem to be in the middle of a lot of those series where it gets real physical and chippy, and game by game, it changes,” he said. “Depending on who you have as a crew dictates how physical you can be. And we have to be smart with that. We have to use that experience. And if it’s one of those games where it’s gonna be called tighter, you gotta play with that physicality. It can’t be two games ago, it can’t be last game. We have to be ready for what’s called that night.”

Wembanyama played just 12 minutes in Game 4, finishing with four points and four rebounds, a jarring contrast to his 39-point, 15-rebound, five-block performance in Game 3 that had given San Antonio a 2-1 series lead. In these playoffs, he is averaging 19.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 4.4 blocks per game, numbers that underline exactly why Minnesota’s acceptance of his availability was genuine rather than diplomatic.

Reid, for his part, kept his response brief and pointed after the game. “Pain is weakness leaving the body,” he said. “That’s it.” Game 5 tips off Tuesday night in San Antonio at 8 PM ET, with the Western Conference Finals on the line. The Timberwolves expected Wembanyama to be there. They say they are ready for him.