Victor Wembanyama threw an elbow into Naz Reid's neck early in the second quarter of Game 4 on Sunday night, was ejected on a Flagrant 2 for "excessive contact above the neck," and on Monday the NBA announced he would face no fine and no suspension. He will play Tuesday's Game 5. The Spurs lost Game 4 by five; the series is tied 2-2. Wembanyama, 22, was being swarmed for an offensive rebound when he turned and connected with Reid's jaw and throat; it was his first career ejection. Check it here:

1. He Was Defending Himself (Spurs, NBA, no-suspension camp)

Wembanyama gets mauled every game; the ejection was real punishment; throwing the league's brightest 22-year-old out of a Game 5 over one moment of self-defense would be absurd.

A 22-year-old getting body-slammed every possession with no whistle eventually swings back. Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson made the case directly: "Just the amount of physicality that people play with him, at some level, you have to protect yourself." He has also said he was "glad he took matters into his own hands" and called any suspension "ridiculous." The Game 4 sequence — swarmed by Reid and Jaden McDaniels on an offensive rebound — is the kind of pile-up officials have allowed all series.

The mechanics of the NBA's points system did the rest. Postseason suspensions are tied to flagrant-foul points: a Flagrant 2 is worth 2; the suspension threshold is 4. Wembanyama has no prior history of similar incidents — unlike Isaiah Stewart, who gets repeat-offender treatment because he actually is a repeat offender. First offense, missing the rest of a playoff loss, was the cost.

Even some neutral analysts agree the ejection itself was enough. Emmanuel Acho argued no suspension was warranted because Wembanyama "got thrown out of the game early." A Yahoo Sports column put the case more bluntly in its headline: avoiding suspension "was the right call." Star players miss the rest of playoff games for fouls all the time; that is the punishment.

2. That Was Intentional, Suspend Him (Wolves, Smith, Perkins, outrage camp)

A wind-up elbow to a defender's throat is not a heat-of-the-moment reaction — it is a dangerous play, the league knows it is a dangerous play, and "first offense" should not be the bar.

Swinging an elbow at a player's neck after you have already secured the ball is not self-defense. Stephen A. Smith called the play "very intentional," saying: "Can't swing your elbow like that. Very intentional," and arguing "the play itself warrants a suspension for game 5." Kendrick Perkins agreed on intent: "You had to throw him out because we all saw that it was intentional." The Star Tribune's RandBall column went with the headline "Should Victor Wembanyama have been suspended for Game 5? He won't be" — the framing of a verdict the writer thinks is wrong.

The hit itself was serious. Reid went down immediately, and the referees upgraded the call on review to "excessive contact above the neck" — the NBA's term for a play that crosses the line from physical basketball into something the league flags as dangerous. Sports Illustrated's Timberwolves blog ran the explicit headline "Forget Superstar Treatment, Wemby's Violent Elbow Warrants Suspension."

The deterrent argument is real. If the league signals that a wind-up elbow to the throat from a star player is a "you've been ejected, now go win us a series" foul, the next swing — from any player — gets cheaper. Yahoo Sports captured the fan reaction in a piece headlined "Lack of punishment for Victor Wembanyama sparks outrage."

3. This Is Star Treatment (double-standard camp)

Less prominent players have been suspended for the exact same act; the points system is a cover story for a decision the league was never going to make.

The most honest read of Monday's announcement is that the NBA was never going to suspend the new face of the league from a playoff Game 5. Yahoo Sports laid out the case: in 2016 Hassan Whiteside got a one-game suspension for elbowing Boban Marjanović. In 2013 J.R. Smith got a one-game suspension for elbowing Jason Terry. Both plays were similar to what Wembanyama did Sunday. Neither Whiteside nor Smith was the league's marquee star at the time.

A discretionary call dressed up as a mechanical one is still a discretionary call. Stephen A. Smith put it directly: "The only reason if Wemby doesn't get suspended is because he's Victor Wembanyama and everybody wants to see him play." Kendrick Perkins, before the ruling, warned that letting Wembanyama off would send a message that the NBA prioritizes "views, stardom, and money over a person's well being." The "points system" defense lands less convincingly when you remember the league has the discretion to suspend regardless — and has used that discretion in cases involving non-star players.

Where This Lands

The Spurs camp's argument has real weight: Wembanyama gets pummeled every game with little whistle, the points system is the points system, and ejection itself is a meaningful penalty in a tied playoff series. On the other hand, the Whiteside and J.R. Smith precedents do exist, the throat is not an incidental contact zone, and "first offense" reads differently when it is a star's first offense and a non-star's third.

Sources