Draymond Green is no stranger to altercations in his 13-year NBA career. The Golden State Warriors veteran sits second on the most ejections list. Be it flagrant fouls, fines, suspensions, the former DPOY has endured it all. So, Green was surprised when the NBA announced no further punishment for Victor Wembanyama for his vicious elbow to Naz Reid’s throat in Game 4. The Dubs’ big man raised questions and delivered a clear message to the entire Minnesota Timberwolves roster.

Green previously tweeted about what he perceives as blatant hypocrisy. He wrote, “Y’all have called for my career for less.” Now, the 36-year-old has often said that he doesn’t regret anything he did on the court. Be it the flare-up with Rudy Gobert or even punching his own teammate, Jordan Poole. Fans have gone on to call him out for a lack of self-awareness. But something Green feels strongly about is the recent incident in which Wemby completely lost it.

“What if it were Naz Reid elbowing Wemby like that?” the veteran said on The Draymond Green Show. “What would have happened?… So, as I posed the question, what if it was the shoe was on the other foot and it was Naz Reid taking out Wemby? I think this situation would look totally different. There would be fines. There would be suspensions.” But what’s done is done, and here is what Green wants the Timberwolves to do next. “Hey guys, this is fair game. There’s no suspension. There are no fines. This is a fair game. Who’s coming out there tomorrow night and doing it to Wemby?”

“Who’s gonna elbow him in the face?” Green continued. “That’s what I would be saying, like, who’s getting him? Because clearly there are no fines for this act. There are no suspensions. You may get ejected, fine, but you may take Wemby out of the game, so who’s doing this to Wemby?… You got to get your get back. If nobody’s coming back at those guys going back at Wemby, you lose the war. Because what he just did was set a tone, and you either go full force at it or you get rolled over. So we’re gonna see what the Minnesota Timberwolves do.”

Green even stated it was “crazy” that the San Antonio Spurs star got away with no penalty. While highlighting the Frenchman’s “intent” to do damage, he recalled the incident between Julius Randle and Nikola Jokic, in which the two stars faced a larger fine even though they did not hit anyone.

In Game 4 of the Round 1 series, the Joker took exception to Jaden McDaniels’ late basket when the game was sealed with 1.3 seconds to go. The Nuggets star grabbed him, while Randle swooped in to save his teammate. It turned physical, with a lot of shoving. Jokic was fined $50,000, and Randle $35,000. In comparison, Wemby’s hit job on Reid looked far more violent…

The game’s officials had reviewed it and determined that the contact was an unnecessary, non-basketball play with a wind-up. Thus, Wemby was ejected for the first time in his career with a Flagrant 2 to his name. But even his head coach backed him despite his exit from the game. “At some point, he’s going to have to protect himself,” Mitch Johnson told reporters. “I’m glad he took matters into his own hands, not at all in terms of hitting Naz Reid.”

The Spurs coach made it clear that they wanted the French phenom to be extra physical. That’s why Green urged the Wolves to get back at them. If Johnson can support his players in this, then Chris Finch could do the same after one of his star players intentionally hits Wemby. Since the league has already set the precedent with no punishment, the Wolves can use that to their advantage.

Why was Victor Wembanyama Not Suspended Despite Elbowing Naz Reid’s Face? Two Key Factors Considered

Postseason suspensions are based on a points system that counts flagrant fouls, and Victor Wembanyama steered clear of that threshold. The Flagrant 2 in Game 4 means Victor Wembanyama has two points, but it takes four (another Flagrant 2 or two Flagrant 1 fouls) for him to get suspended. Also, Wemby does not have a lengthy history of incidents like this compared to someone such as Draymond Green, regardless of his opinion.

Subsequently, Insider Shams Charania appeared on SportsCenter for a detailed report on the incident and the aftermath. “The two major things to take into account here, one is that he was ejected from this game for a flagrant 2, for an elbow to Naz Reid’s face. He missed a majority of Game 4 due to that ejection. And most importantly, there’s no prior history, so the NBA took that into account in this decision. No further discipline for Victor Wembanyama,” he added.

This decision did not sit right with many analysts around the league, like Kendrick Perkins, Stephen A. Smith, and even Nick Wright. At first, even Green thought a suspension wouldn’t surprise him. But then came the no-punishment verdict. So, Wemby will be present for Game 5 in San Antonio.