Victor Wembanyama threw a block party on Monday night, but not everyone was happy about it.
The San Antonio Spurs star swatted every shot in sight in Game 1 of his team’s Western Conference semifinals series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wemby had three blocks in the opening few minutes, with each drawing a louder applause than the last inside Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Wembanyama had 7 blocks by halftime and finished with 12 blocks once the final buzzer sounded. He set the record for most blocks in an NBA playoff game with a board-slapper on Anthony Edwards early in the fourth quarter.
THE RECORD FOR THE MOST BLOCKS IN AN NBA PLAYOFF GAME BELONGS TO VICTOR WEMBANYAMA pic.twitter.com/XMK6ffIViB
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 5, 2026
However, Wemby appeared to get away with a few uncalled goaltending violations and at least one foul to pad his stats. Here’s a video compiling the more questionable blocks the Frenchman tallied.
Almost all Wemby's blocks were goaltends/fouls. pic.twitter.com/kiFxdO82u9
— House of Lowlights (@HouseLowlights) May 5, 2026
“[Victor Wembanyama] had a lot of blocks, he had a couple of uncalled goaltendings too,” said Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch after the game. “Those are valuable points we’d like to have back.”
Several fans agreed with Finch on social media, with many calling out the unfair whistle that went Wemby’s way.
Going to be impossible for the Wolves to score if Wemby is allowed to goal tend. Officials have missed two calls on fairly obvious shots that hit the back board
— Ryan Eichten (@REichten) May 5, 2026
It's going to be hard for the #Timberwolves to win this series if the refs just let Wemby foul and goaltend every game without any calls…
— Jeff Wald (@JeffWaldFox9) May 5, 2026
Wemby gets away w goaltending just because of his perception as an elite shot blocker lmao
— Amy (@amyknowsball) May 5, 2026
Wembanyama finished with an absurd triple-double of 11 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 blocks. While his defensive impact was invaluable, his offense left a lot to be desired. The Spurs big man settled for several outside shots, going 0/8 from distance against a physical Timberwolves defense.
With Wemby’s offense out of sync, Minnesota was able to steal Game 1 in a 104-102 affair.
