Victor Wembanyama has called out the excessive physicality some defenses have employed against him.
The San Antonio Spurs star led his team with 25 points and 5 blocks in a 112-103 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. But he didn’t leave the game unscathed.
Wemby took a shot to the midsection from Desmond Bane late in the third quarter, which sent the Spurs center to the ground. The Magic guard was assessed a flagrant 1 foul for the infraction.
Desmond Bane with a dirty cheap shot to the body of Victor Wembanyama, off the ball (with replays).
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) February 2, 2026
It was upgraded to a flagrant-1 upon review pic.twitter.com/8Z8CXf4Itk
Wembanyama was asked about the play during his postgame press conference. The Frenchman called the play an example of a team playing contact football rather than basketball.
“I don’t think I was frustrated. I know they do that because they don’t want to play a basketball game,” Wembanyama said. “Our job on offense is to make it a basketball game, … It’s just the game, it’s like this every night.”
"They do that because they don't want to play a basketball game.
— Hector Ledesma (@HectorLedesmaTV) February 2, 2026
Our job on offense is to make it a basketball game. That's how we're going to beat them…"⬇️
-Wemby to @RealTomPetrini on Desmond Bane's physicality in W v Orl. Bane, a flagrant for elbow at Vic late in 3rd#Spurs pic.twitter.com/7Q1lQGXE4f
In all fairness to Bane, the Magic guard doesn’t really discriminate when it comes to who he doles out flagrant fouls to. The TCU product has been charged with some of the most unhinged flagrant fouls this season.
In early November, Bane got ejected for slamming the ball on Atlanta Hawks big man Onyeka Okongwu. He did something similar to New York Knicks wing OG Anunoby a month later.
Wembanyama was simply his latest victim.
