Rudy Gobert makes his mea culpa. The French Minnesota Timberwolves center apologized on Sunday after hitting teammate Kyle Anderson in the final game of the NBA regular season against the New Orleans Pelicans, which he did not finish.
“Emotions got the better of me today. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, regardless of what was said. I want to apologize to the fans, the organization and especially Kyle who is someone I really love and respect as a teammate,” the 30-year-old pivot tweeted hours later. after an incident in the second quarter of the game won by the Minnesota franchise 113-108.
Other insults in the locker room
A video shows the beginning of a verbal altercation between Gobert and Anderson during a time out. According to ESPN, Anderson told Gobert to block shots, to which the Frenchman told him to take a rebound. Anderson then insulted Gobert of “asshole” by asking him to “shut up”. The Frenchman then punched Anderson before players separated the two teammates, but according to The Athleticthe altercation continued in the locker room at half-time, with new insults.
After the altercation, Gobert sent an apologetic message to his teammates in a group chat, according to Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley. “We’ll talk about it and we’ll move on,” Anderson said. “We are adults. “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 continue to manage the situation internally,” said franchise general manager Tim Connelly.
Gobert’s coach relativizes
“We are not proud of this behavior, whatever it is,” coach Chris Finch said. “I have not yet looked into the root causes of this behavior. But the guys were just frustrated – we weren’t playing well, we weren’t sharing the ball, we looked lethargic. “Veterans can get upset too, so I don’t want to be too hard on him,” he added of three-time defender of the year Gobert, “but obviously it’s not It’s not something we’re going to tolerate here”.
The Timberwolves were trailing 48-36 with nearly four minutes remaining at halftime at the time of the incident. They ended up winning, clinching eighth place in the Western Conference. They will play a play-off against the Lakers to compete in the play-offs and, if they lose it, they will have a second chance against the winner of the match between the Pelicans and the Oklahoma City Thunder.