“Must be $10,000 for towel and $15,000 for heating pad?”- Chris Finch drops the hammer on NBA over Jamal Murray saga amid Rudy Gobert fine
Minnesota coach Chris Finch made a witty comment about the hefty fine imposed on Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert, comparing it to the fine recently given to Jamal Murray in the same series.
Rudy Gobert was fined $75,000 by the NBA for "making an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture that questions the integrity of the league and its game officials," according to Joe Dumars, the league’s executive vice president and head of basketball operations.
Finch joked that he wanted an itemized receipt of Rudy Gobert's fine and humorously suggested that Murray's fine must have come with an itemized description as well.
“Obviously you can’t be showing up the officials like that. But I’d like to see the itemized receipt,” Finch said (per Dane Moore).
“Because if it’s $75,000 for the money gesture, it must $10,000 for the towel and $15,000 for the heating pad. So it’s just kind of a little bit of a head-scratcher to us.”
The NBA noted that in fining Gobert, it also took into account Gobert's "history of improper conduct toward game officials."
Earlier, Jamal Murray was fined $100,000 for "throwing multiple objects in the direction of a game official during live play" in Game 2 on May 6.
This included a heat pad and a towel during the Nuggets' 106-80 loss.
Fans also noticed that Murray made a money gesture, but this wasn't included in the league's description of his fine.
Kendrick Perkins rips DPOY Rudy Gobert for performance vs MVP Nikola Jokic Rudy Gobert, the 2024 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, faces the challenging task of guarding MVP Nikola Jokic in their Western Conference semifinals matchup.
In the three games against Gobert so far, Jokic has averaged 30.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists, with a shooting percentage of 52.2% from the field. Jokic had a total plus-minus of plus-21 in those games.
Kendrick Perkins expressed skepticism about Gobert's inability to contain Jokic, saying:
"Isn't Rudy Gobert the DPOY? Why is it all the time he's the DPOY in the regular season but he's a defensive liability come playoff time?"
In Game 2, which Gobert missed due to the birth of his child but the Timberwolves still won, Jokic had 16 points on 13 shots, along with 16 rebounds, eight assists, and four turnovers.
Gobert is averaging 7.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game against the Nuggets in this year's playoffs.
Game 5 will be tonight in Denver. The winner will take a 3-2 series lead.