The biggest unicorn in the sport caught a Flagrant 2 and an early shower after winding up and clocking Naz Reid square in the face. It's the kind of swing you don't expect from a guy whose entire brand is freakish length and finesse, and the league office didn't have to think very hard about it.
The elbow itself, in all its ugly glory.
Wemby Got Tossed From Game 4 After Deciding To Throw A Nasty Elbow Right To The Face Of Naz Reid https://t.co/czANmQGGYd
The best part might be the aftermath. Wemby genuinely did not seem to understand what a Flagrant 2 was, which is somehow both endearing and a little terrifying when you remember this is a grown man capable of cracking someone's orbital.
Wemby asking the ref to please explain the rule that just ejected him.
Dylan Harper, the rookie, looked like he was watching a documentary unfold in real time. Naz Reid, for his part, treated taking a forearm to the face like a monk treats inner peace — pain is weakness leaving the body and all that.
Naz Reid going full aura on the postgame mic after eating an elbow.
Which brings us to the Marty Mush point, and it's a real one. If Wemby — the face of the league, the generational, the franchise — is out here throwing elbows and getting tossed, what's stopping the 12th guy on any bench from earning his paycheck the hard way? Cheap shot the unicorn, take your fine, become a folk hero in your locker room. That's the precedent now.
Marty Mush asking the question every coach is praying nobody answers.
Why wouldn't the 12th guy on the bench just give a cheap shot to Wemby now? This is the precedent your setting
It's a joke until it isn't. Wemby is too valuable and too tall to be picking fights, and one bad reaction from a guy with nothing to lose is how careers detour. He needs to keep his elbows to himself, if only because the next guy might not miss.