Stephen A. Smith assumes Timberwolves want Victor Wembanyama on court ‘because he’s skinny’

Victor Wembanyama is considered one of the most dominant players in the NBA by just about everyone, except for maybe Stephen A. Smith.

The San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves are tied 2-2 in their Western Conference Semifinals series. But it’s fair to wonder whether the Spurs would be holding a 3-1 lead if Wembanyama wasn’t ejected in the second quarter of Game 4 for throwing a vicious right elbow at Timberwolves center Naz Reid.

Luckily for the Spurs, Wembanyama didn’t receive a suspension for the elbow, meaning he’ll be available to play in Game 5. That’s seemingly bad news for the Timberwolves, however, who surely would prefer to play the game without having to face arguably the league’s most dominant force, right? Not according to Smith.

Stephen A. Smith thinks the Minnesota Timberwolves might prefer having Victor Wembanyama on the court just so they can push him around “because of how skinny he is” pic.twitter.com/KXscpUGGC1

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 12, 2026

“How do you know they don’t want Wemby on the basketball court tonight?” Smith asked on First Take. “They might want it, even though he’s 7’ 5”. They might want him out there! Especially because this is not the Diesel.

“If it’s somebody like Shaquille O’Neal walking around 330, 340 (lb) and dunking on your mug, that would be different. But because of how skinny he is, you might have some cats that might want him out there. As great as he is, they might want him out there, just so they can make sure he feels them.”

If that’s the case, why didn’t Naz Reid, Anthony Edwards, and others on the Timberwolves stand up and plead with the officials to let Wembanyama avoid an ejection Sunday night?

As big as Wembanyama is, Smith seems to focus on the physical traits he lacks. Like his weight, or his “meat” as he previously stated. But even though Wembanyama might be skinny, he’s still an imposing player. Even someone with a more Shaq-like physique, like Kendrick Perkins, thinks so.

“I’m willing to bet everything that I have, that if you took a survey in that Minnesota locker room, whether they want Wemby on the floor, or him not on the floor, I guarantee you they will say they don’t want him on the floor,” Perkins said to push back on Smith’s ridiculous take.

There’s no way Wembanyama’s ejection was met with any pushback from the Timberwolves. And there’s equally no chance anyone on the Timberwolves was rooting for Wembanyama to avoid a suspension. That’s not to say Minnesota is afraid of Wembanyama being on the court. But if they could choose playing against the Spurs with or without a 7’ 5” MVP-caliber player known as “The Alien” for his unique ability to dominate both ends of the floor, they would choose without.