The French pivot and his partner Kyle Anderson came to blows this Sunday, during the match between Minnesota and New Orleans.
Published update
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It’s the kind of scene you don’t see every day at the edge of a pitch… At the end of a chaotic season, or at the very least uneven and marked by injuries – in particular that of Karl Anthony Towns for several weeks – and a level of performance below expectations, Rudy Gobert went crazy on Sunday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, during the last regular season game of “his” Timberwolves against New Orleans. In summary, the tone rose during a timeout and the 30-year-old French international pivot sent a punch in the direction of … his teammate Kyle Anderson! Surreal … Taurean Prince pushed back the ex-Jazz player and other Minnesota players prevented the altercation from going further. Gobert was quickly escorted to the locker room. We then learned that he would not finish the meeting, sent home by the T-Wolves.
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You could imagine some tension in the Timberwolves locker room. Not at this point. Above all, we couldn’t think that this could lead to this kind of behavior at this time of the season… The “Twin Cities” club will participate in the “play-in”, a mini-tournament which will allow the awarding of the two last qualified for the play-offs in the Western Conference. To see if it will be with … or without Gobert, who obviously exposes himself to an internal sanction.
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Sometimes Kyle is a bit aggressive in his way of speaking, but I take it positively.
Rudy Gobert on Kyle Anderson’s leadership, Saturday
Which Gobert said this about Anderson as recently as Saturday:Kyle wants to win. Sometimes he is a bit aggressive in his way of speaking, but I don’t take it personally. I receive it in a positive way because he does it with the idea that I am the best Rudy possible and that we win. I love his competitiveness, the way he plays, the way he makes his teammates better. He will have been an important piece this season“. Apparently, this time, Gobert took Anderson’s words a little more personally…
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Chosen in 27th position in the 2013 Draft, Rudy Gobert spent the first nine seasons of his NBA career with Utah, winning three selections for the All Star Game and three titles of best defender in the NBA. All without forgetting his five medals with the France team, including silver at the last Olympic Games. The T-Wolves bet big to recover it last summer during an XXL trade and expected a lot from him. The Picard giant took time to adapt to his new team, unless it was the other way around, before becoming impactful again. He ends the 2022-23 campaign with 13.6 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.4 against average in 2022-23. After this stroke of blood, to see if his future is still in Minneapolis. One thing is certain: he has three years left on his contract ($131 million), including the last season as a player option.
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