"Rudy sucks, not me" - Rudy Gobert catches strays from Draymond Green after Minnesota fans heckle him
Minnesota big man Rudy Gobert was on the receiving end of a dig from TNT analyst Draymond Green after the Golden State Warriors forward was heckled by Timberwolves fans. They were left feeling frustrated after their team lost Game 2 of the Western Conference finals to the Dallas Mavericks, 109-108 on Friday.
While the "Inside the NBA" crew was doing a postgame interview with game hero Luka Doncic at Target Center in Minnesota, some fans could be heard shouting:
"Draymond sucks."
To which the four-time NBA champion had a witty response:
"Rudy sucks, not me. What did I do?"
Green's response was in reference to Rudy Gobert failing to stop Doncic from scoring what turned out to be the game-winning triple for the Mavericks with four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Gobert and Green are closely interlinked this season as they were involved in a near free-for-all after the Warriors player put the Frenchman in a chokehold in one of their games earlier this season. Green was subsequently suspended for five games for his actions.
Draymond Green says Rudy Gobert deserves Defensive Player of the Year award and is a future Hall-of-Famer
Draymond Green has had his clashes with Rudy Gobert throughout the years but admits he respects the game of the big Frenchman, who he expects will be a Hall-of-Famer someday.
The 11-year veteran Gobert, 31, won his fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year award this season, putting him in elite company that only counts Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace as the other members.
It is, however, his first with the Minnesota Timberwolves, whose defense he anchored to a league-best rating of 108.4.
Speaking on Shaquille O’Neal's "The Big Podcast", Green shared that this year, more than in any other year he won the award, Gobert was deserving of the honor.
He said, (by way of NBC Sports):
“What I will say is this. I think Rudy Gobert has gotten a lot better defensively now than what he was years ago. This year was the first time that I thought he actually deserved to win Defensive Player of the Year.”
The four-time NBA champion then spoke of the French big man becoming a Basketball Hall-of-Famer when his career is over:
“I think he will be a Hall-of-Famer because of a couple of things… It is the basketball Hall of Fame, it’s not the NBA Hall of Fame. I think we oftentimes see some guys from Europe get into the Hall of Fame that we necessarily wouldn’t respect that guy being in the Hall of Fame on our terms. But it’s not necessarily our Hall of Fame, it’s the basketball Hall of Fame.”
Rudy Gobert this season averaged 14 points, 12.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks.
Unfortunately for him and the Timberwolves, they are staring at a 0-2 deficit in their best-of-seven Western Conference finals series with the Dallas Mavericks after losing Game 2, 109-108 at home.
Game 3 shifts to Dallas at American Airlines Center on Sunday.