Revealed: Words Said That Led to NBA Player Punching Teammate, Getting Sent Home
The final day of the NBA regular season is often a bizarre one.
The strange mishmash of teams that are locked into a playoff spot playing teams that are locked into missing the playoffs can produce LeBron James-esque stat lines from players you’ve never heard of like Theophilus Pinson (23 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists, zero turnovers Sunday) and Payton Pritchard (30 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists).
That’s generally because whether your team has locked in a playoff spot or a draft lottery spot, there’s not much benefit to playing your best and brightest at the moment. If you’re a playoff team, health is generally going to be prioritized over winning Game 82. If you’re a lottery team, losing (or “tanking“) Game 82 would only help your odds of securing a higher draft pick.
Either way, the vibes should typically be immaculate for both kinds of teams at this point in the season. You’re either a playoff team or your miserable, non-playoff season is mercifully over. It’s some real “last day of school”-type stuff.
The Minnesota Timberwolves squarely fall into the former type of team. As the 8-seed in the Western Conference, the Timberwolves have punched their ticket to the play-in tournament, and yet: Their vibes are decidedly not immaculate.
Despite beating the New Orleans Pelicans 113-108 on Sunday, the Wolves were not in a particularly celebratory mood afterwards due to an ugly sideline incident involving star center Rudy Gobert and forward Kyle “Slo Mo” Anderson:
Kyle Anderson and Rudy Gobert got into a scuffle during a timeout😳 pic.twitter.com/y8X76TbUuJ
— Backcourt Alerts (@BackcourtAlerts) April 9, 2023
Again, this isn’t some miserable non-playoff team that can’t wait to get to their summer vacation. This is a playoff team.
So what triggered this ugly episode?
According to NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, all it took for that particular powder keg to blow was a bit of colorful language:
WARNING: The following tweet includes language that some readers may find offensive
ESPN Sources: Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert escalated a verbal argument to a physical encounter after Kyle Anderson told him to “Shut the f— up, bitch.” The disagreement started with Anderson telling Gobert to block some shots, Gobert telling him to grab a rebound – and ended with a…
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 9, 2023
Per Wojnarowski, Anderson told Gobert to “Shut the f*** up, b****,” after the two had been bickering about defensive assignments.
Things had apparently come to a head after Anderson told Gobert to block some shots (one of Gobert’s specialties), while Gobert told the 6-foot-9 Anderson to grab a few more rebounds.
Compounding matters? Rising Timberwolves defensive ace Jaden McDaniels injured himself by punching a wall during Sunday’s game too:
After sending Rudy Gobert home for punching a teammate, Jaden McDaniels fractured his hand punching a wall.
Timberwolves are playoff ready. pic.twitter.com/MvZBMUqC2P
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 9, 2023
To say that the Timberwolves are a bit of a mess going into their second straight play-in tournament would be a glaring understatement, no matter how much damage control the team tried to do in the aftermath of one of the most Pyrrhic victories in recent NBA memory.
Gobert, who ESPN notes was sent home mid-game immediately after the ugly punch, immediately took to Twitter and issued an apology:
Emotions got the best of me today. I should not have reacted the way i did regardless of what was said. I wanna apologize to the fans, the organisation and particularly to Kyle, who is someone that i truly love and respect as a teammate.
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) April 10, 2023
“Emotions got the best of me today. I should not have reacted the way i did regardless of what was said,” Gobert tweeted. “I wanna apologize to the fans, the organisation and particularly to Kyle, who is someone that i truly love and respect as a teammate.”
Anderson, meanwhile, told reporters after the game that he and Gobert were “grown men” and would handle the issue in-house:
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
Whatever mends the Wolves have to make, they had better make them quickly.
They play a suddenly-frisky Los Angeles Lakers team in a play-in game on Tuesday. If the Wolves win, they will be in the NBA Playoffs proper. If the Wolves lose, they would get one more chance to make the playoffs with a game against the winner of the Pelicans/Oklahoma City Thunder play-in game.
New reports claim that Gobert has been suspended for the play-in game against the Lakers.
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