The Minnesota Timberwolves will be without their star center when they face off against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA’s play-in tournament game on Tuesday … ’cause the team just suspended Rudy Gobert one game for punching his teammate.
Gobert — who swung at Kyle Anderson during a timeout in Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans — will rejoin his teammates for the remainder of the Wolves’ play-in tournament run and beyond.
Kyle Anderson and Rudy Gobert got into a scuffle during a timeout😳 pic.twitter.com/y8X76TbUuJ
— Backcourt Alerts (@BackcourtAlerts) April 9, 2023
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It’s a big blow to Minnesota — the Wolves gave up four first-round picks for the 3-time Defensive Player of the Year in 2022 … and will be tasked with trying to upset a hot Lakers team that has seemingly figured things out just in time for the postseason.
Gobert was sent home from Sunday’s game … and apologized for his actions shortly after.
“Emotions got the best of me today,” Gobert said. “I should not have reacted the way i did regardless of what was said. I wanna apologize to the fans, the organization and particularly to Kyle, who is someone that i truly love and respect as a teammate.”
Kyle Anderson on Rudy Gobert incident: “It ain’t the first time somebody swung on me. It is what it is. We keep it in house…We’ll speak about it and move on. We grown men.” pic.twitter.com/TEmcqalAiY
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) April 10, 2023
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According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Wolves believe Gobert’s punch was not intended to hurt his teammate … but considering he struck Anderson in the chest, they were left with no other choice.
The report also says the whole thing started after Anderson called Gobert a “bitch” repeatedly.
As for Anderson … he briefly addressed the incident after the game, saying he wanted to keep things in-house.