It took fewer than 12 minutes for tensions between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs to boil over in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals on Monday night.
Spurs All-Star center Victor Wembanyama shoved Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson, and it looked particularly egregious because his hand was in Brunson’s head and neck area. After Brunson got up to confront Wembanyama, he was met with Wembanyama laughing in his face.
Wembanyama was not called for a foul in the play, and the below clip was the talk of the internet for the rest of the game. (The Spurs won, 115-111, to cut the Knicks’ series lead to 2-1.)
On Tuesday afternoon, NBA senior vice president and head of development and training referee operations Monty McCutchen said on ESPN’s “NBA Today” that “a foul was missed on that play.” McCutchen said the play would be reviewed to determine whether Wembanyama would be assessed a retroactive flagrant foul.
By Tuesday night, several NBA reporters simultaneously relayed the NBA’s official decision to decline upgrading Wembanyama’s actions to a flagrant foul. There will be no further discipline.
The NBA’s ruling is interesting for two reasons.
First, Wembanyama already has two flagrant foul points this postseason, so avoiding earning a third flagrant point is crucial to the Spurs’ chances of completing a comeback. Four flagrant points leave players vulnerable to an automatic suspension.
Secondly, and more globally, this is the third time this postseason that the league has defied its discipline norms regarding Wembanyama.
The NBA opted against suspending him after he elbowed Minnesota’s Naz Reid in early May, though Wemby was ejected from that Game 5 in the Spurs’ series with the Timberwolves. He also avoided a fine from the league — instead getting just a warning — for skipping out on his postgame media obligations after a Game 5 loss to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals.
Now, this.
It makes sense for the NBA to want Wembanyama, the 22-year-old ascending face of the league, at the forefront of the Finals. Everybody wants to watch Wemby, except Knicks fans. But the uproar over Wembanyama benefitting from a double standard is only going to get louder from here.
Wembanyama and the Spurs will look to even the series in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night.
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