Former NBA champion defends Victor Wembanyama from being called a dirty player

Victor Wembanyama has been the darling of the NBA and its many fan bases since he arrived in 2023. In just his third season, he proved that he was worth the hype, leading the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals in his first postseason run.

Along the way, Wembanyama faced all kinds of matchups, which were quite physical. Unfortunately, he has retaliated against his opponents, which has now given him a stain on his reputation for being a "dirty" player.

Matt Barnes comes to Victor Wembanyama's defense against "dirty" accusations

In the 2026 Playoffs, teams prepared for the Spurs by playing physical basketball. This happened with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Wembanyama himself has experienced some frustrations, which were clear with his elbow against Naz Reid.

As he continued playing against the Thunder and the New York Knicks, Wembanyama began to have a reputation for being a dirty player. This is now something that has stuck with him, which will be tough to shake.

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Some of the criticism is deserved because he did have some bad moments, like his elbow and how he shoved Jalen Brunson in the NBA Finals. Former NBA champion Matt Barnes has defended Wembanyama against those who called him dirty.

"People were taking a lot of cheap shots at him this year. I just think he got to a point, end of the season, I'm worn out... If you're going to take a cheap shot at me, I'm going to elbow you in the face, and I'm going to mush Brunson. I want that for my superstar," Barnes said on All The Smoke about Wembanyama.

Retaliation is a big part of what Barnes is talking about. Wembanyama has not been the instigator across all the incidents because there is always context to the bad moments seen on the live broadcast.

Understandably, Wembanyama is getting frustrated because no other big man is getting that physicality. Moving forward, it seems he will be locked in more, which is a good sign for the Spurs.

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