NBA Decides Not to Upgrade Wemby's Shove to Flagrant Foul Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs star, avoided a potential flagrant foul upgrade after shoving New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson during Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals. The incident, which occurred in the first quarter, was reviewed by the NBA, but officials determined it did not meet the criteria for a flagrant foul. As a result, Wembanyama remains at two flagrant foul points for the postseason, avoiding a suspension that would have followed a fourth flagrant foul. The shove was part of a physically charged first quarter, with Knicks guard Josh Hart also picking up a technical foul after an exchange with Spurs forward Luke Kornet. However, the Wembanyama-Brunson incident drew the most attention due to the star power of both players. Brunson, who led the Knicks in scoring during the series, addressed the play after the game, stating, "Whatever you saw is what you saw," without elaborating on the specifics. NBA senior vice president Monty McCutchen acknowledged during a Tuesday appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today that a foul was missed on the play. He admitted the league’s referees failed to properly monitor on-ball and off-ball exchanges, which led to the oversight. "A big part of our job is on-ball, off-ball exchanges between referees," McCutchen said. "We did a poor job of that here... If we break down in our fundamentals, we have the opportunity to miss a clear foul as we missed here." The decision not to upgrade the incident to a flagrant foul was a critical break for the Spurs. Wembanyama already carried two flagrant foul points into the Finals after a flagrant-2 foul and ejection for elbowing Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid during the second-round playoffs.#new_york_knicks #san_antonio_spurs #victor_wembanyama #jalen_brunson #monty_mccutchen
