Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert got into a heated confrontation with a teammate during a timeout, and threw a punch at him.
Sunday was the final day of the 2022-23 NBA regular-season, where teams have the chance to clinch a better seed in either the playoffs or the play-in tournament. As is the case, this is a tense time of the season. But during the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans game, there was drama on the sidelines.
Prior to halftime, cameras filmed the Timberwolves huddle, which saw center Rudy Gobert and forward Kyle Anderson get into a contentious argument. Eventually, that led to Gobert throwing a punch at Anderson, who tried to go after him.
Later on, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that the Timberwolves removed Gobert for the remainder of the game, and actually sent him home.
Rudy Gobert sent home by Timberwolves after throwing punch at Kyle Anderson
It was certainly an awkward situation to transpire in the Timberwolves huddle. But, it only gets more intriguing.
Chris Hine of the Star Tribune revealed that he had been working on a piece about Anderson’s leadership skills, and shared a quote that he received from Gobert on Saturday. Part of Gobert’s quote said of Anderson, “he’s a little aggressive in the way he talks, but I don’t take it personally.” One day later, he throws a punch at Anderson.
Awkward.
In the game, Gobert had scored just two points on just one field goal attempt, and hauled in three rebounds in over 13 minutes played.
Through 69 games this season, Gobert averaged 13.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks, while posting a 65.9 field goal percentage.
It will be interesting to see what Gobert’s status will be from here on out. Let’s not forget, the play-in tournament officially begins on Tuesday night, Apr. 11 and concludes on Friday, Apr. 14.
UPDATE: According to ESPN senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Gobert threw a punch after Anderson told him to “shut the f*** up, b****.” Per Wojnarowski, the two got into an argument after Anderson told Gobert to block shots. Meanwhile, Gobert told Anderson to grab a rebound.
Wojnarowski continued in a separate tweet, Gobert apologized to the team in a group chat, saying “we’ll speak about it and move on,” and “we’re grown men.”
The Timberwolves are set to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the play-in tournament on Tuesday, Apr. 11 at 10:00 p.m. ET on TNT. The winner of that game will earn the No. 7 seed in the playoffs and face the No. 2 Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. The loser will have to face the winner of the New Orleans Pelicans vs. Oklahoma City Thunder game for the chance to earn the eighth seed and a spot in the first-round against the No. 1 Denver Nuggets.
UPDATE (Apr. 9, 8:13 p.m. ET): Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported additional details on the altercation, adding that Gobert and Anderson had another verbal exchange int the locker room. Anderson told Gobert “I’ll knock you a** out, and that they had to be separated by teammates, with Mike Conley serving “as a vital factor in calming down the halftime locker room.”
Timberwolves team president Tim Connelly released a statement regarding his decision to send Gobert home at halftime, calling his behavior on the bench “unacceptable” and saying that they will handle the situation internally.