Mike Conley Says Wolves Never Wanted or Expected a Wemby Suspension

"We want to play against the best," said the Timberwolves' veteran point guard.

May 4, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley (10) dribbles against San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) in the first half during game one of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Frost Bank Center. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

Some were surprised by the NBA's decision not to suspend Victor Wembanyama for Game 5 after his Game 4 ejection for elbowing Naz Reid, including noted agitator and podcaster Draymond Green.

Not the Timberwolves themselves. They never expected Wemby to miss further time in this series — and they weren't hoping for that to be the outcome, either.

"Honestly, I don't think we even thought about it much at all," veteran point guard Mike Conley told ESPN's Anthony Slater on Tuesday morning. "I think once the ruling came down it was just like, we expected that and just move forward. We don't want guys to miss games. We want to play against the best. We're gonna be ready for the best team they put out there."

An argument can certainly be made, based on past precedent, that Wembanyama should've been suspended for what was a vicious, seemingly-intentional elbow to Reid's throat. Even with the Spurs' young star having no history of past incidents, it was the type of play that has resulted in suspensions in the past.

But, whether fair or not, it always seemed unlikely that the NBA would take one of the two best players and biggest stars in this second-round series out of a critical Game 5 on Tuesday night. Having Wembanyama on the floor is great for competition and entertainment.

It'll be interesting to see if the elbow incident — and Spurs coach Mitch Johnson's subsequent commentary — has any sort of carryover effect in Game 5. Even if the Timberwolves don't blatantly retaliate like Green thinks they should, will there be any additional physicality or hostility involving Wembanyama, Reid, Jaden McDaniels, or anyone else?

Conley, who will be playing in his 119th career playoff game on Tuesday, told Slater the Wolves have to be prepared for whatever level of physicality the officials allow.

"We seem to be in the middle of a lot of those series where it gets real physical, chippy," he said. "And game by game, it changes. Depending on who you have as a crew, it dictates how physical you can be. We have to be smart with that. We have to use that experience. ... It can't be two games ago, it can't be last game. We have to be ready for what's called tonight, and I think we've handled that well over the last few series."

Game 5 in San Antonio is at 7:12 p.m. central on NBC and Peacock.

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