Escalation occurred between Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson when both sides went off for a heated verbal exchange, as the latter called out the big man with “Shut the f— up, b—-.” Their disagreement ignited when the two traded barbs on their play against the New Orleans Pelicans in the second quarter, with Anderson telling Gobert to block some shots while Gobert telling Anderson to grab a rebound (h/t ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski).
According to Wojnarowski, Gobert hurt his back in their Saturday win over the San Antonio Spurs. He nearly didn’t perform against New Orleans, but went on to proceed and suit up his Minnesota gear. This complication became reasoning for Gobert on why he was limited in his play as he was arguing with Anderson.
In the middle of their argument during the timeout, Gobert hurled a punch against Anderson which landed over the forward’s chest. Their teammates quickly responded and went in to separate the two to evade further tensions.
Heading to the locker room at halftime, situations remained hot for both Gobert and Anderson. The two continued to confront and dish out spicy remarks with each other, with Anderson challenging Gobert at one point by shouting, “I’ll knock your a– out” as a threat (h/t Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic). Mike Conley Jr., a respected player around the league who is notably known for his calm demeanor, took the needed initiative of playing a key role in calming down the intensifying Minnesota dugout.
As such, team president Tim Connelly and front office executive Dell Demps entered the scenes within the team locker room, notifying Gobert that the Timberwolves have decided to send him home. Eventually, the big man changed off his clothes and headed to the arena exits while his teammates entered the second half of the Sunday game against the Pels.
“We made the decision to send Rudy Gobert home after the incident in the second quarter. His behavior on the bench was unacceptable and we will handle the situation internally,” Connelly said in a statement to The Athletic.
As the T-Wolves stormed their way back, from being down 55-47 in halftime for a 113-108 finish to elevate themselves in the play-in positioning of the Western Conference, head coach Chris Finch voiced out his displeasure on the altercations right at his postgame presser.
“We’re not proud of that behavior by anybody,” Finch said. “We really haven’t dug too far into the root cause of it. But guys were just frustrated. We weren’t playing well and weren’t sharing the ball. We were getting beat in all the little areas.”
With the win, the Timberwolves are slated for a play-in duel against the seventh-seed Los Angeles Lakers for the right to advance to the playoffs.
As such, it remains yet to be seen if the Wolves will hand down any sanctions against Gobert and the others for disciplinary reasons. Per Woj, the team is already weighing whether to keep the star center off against the Lakers.
A potential Gobert suspension can only deliver an added major blow for the Wolves on their play-in bout, as they are now also facing the tough challenge of having no Jaden McDaniels. The defensive wingman was diagnosed already with a season-ending fractured right hand after he frustratingly punched a wall in the first quarter of the Sunday game.
