Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has now been suspended for their critical Play-In game against the Los Angeles Lakers after punching teammate Kyle Anderson.
Rudy Gobert has been suspended for the Timberwolves-Lakers play-In game on Tuesday, sources tell @ShamsCharania.
Gobert was sent home on Sunday after throwing a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson during a game. pic.twitter.com/0yfSM6oD5C
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 10, 2023
Yesterday’s season finale for the Wolves is one they want to forget. Not only was their punches thrown by Rudy Gobert, but Jaden MacDaniels also threw a punch…at a wall and broke his hand in the process. MacDaniels is put for the rest of the season.
So now the Wolves will be without two of their top defenders against LeBron James and Anthony Davis. When both teams played last, McDaniels was the primary defender on James and he held his own pretty well. Gobert is known for being one of the nest defense center in the entire NBA. This is a huge loss of the T-Wolves.
The Lakers are 7.5 point favorites according to California sportsbooks.
It remains to be seen if Gobert were to miss the second game of the Play-In if the Wolves were to lose. He did publicly and privately apologize for the altercation, however, so maybe this is just a one game absence. The Wolves traded many picks and young talent for Gobert and this experiment with the team may not last long, however.
It is now probably too late to try and get something out of Gobert if he continues his these antics on the court. He is due a lot of money for the next few years so it will be hard to trade Gobert if the team chooses to.
The Timberwolves will need Gobert down the stretch. If they were to lose to the Lakers tomorrow night they would play the winner of the Pelicans-Thunder matchup.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
