What did Kyle Anderson say to Rudy Gobert? Sequence of events leading up to punch explored
Rudy Gobert had one of the worst games of his career on Sunday. The Minnesota Timberwolves center was sent to the locker room after punching Kyle Anderson, his teammate, during a timeout.
Anderson wasn't too happy with the way Gobert played, which is why he decided to criticize his teammate. However, the 7-foot-1 big man escalated this into a physical confrontation, which is why the team decided to send him home.
While the center shouldn't have punched his teammate, there are a few events that led to the incident. Due to this, he may miss the first play-in game against the LA Lakers.
Kyle Anderson and Rudy Gobert don't seem to get along with each other
The physical altercation took place during a second-quarter timeout. The Minnesota Timberwolves, who played one of their most important games of the season, were down by 12 points, 48-36, and players weren't too happy about it.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Kyle Anderson criticized Rudy Gobert for his poor defense. More specifically, the forward asked his teammate why he didn't block some shots.
The big man seemed to be very upset by this, which is why he told Anderson to grab some rebounds.
Anderson took it a step further, right before he was punched by the 10-year NBA veteran.
"Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert escalated a verbal argument to a physical encounter after Kyle Anderson told him to 'Shut the f**k up, b**ch,'” Wojnarowski tweeted.
It appears that this was the last thing the Timberwolves forward said before Gobert hit him. Consequently, the big man was sent to the locker room and wasn't even allowed to spend the rest of the game on the bench.
You may be interested in reading: “Shut the f**k up, b**ch”- Adrian Wojnarowski gives inside details about bust-up between Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson
After the incident, Gobert reportedly apologized to his teammates in a group chat. The three-time Defensive Player of the Year also posted a public apology on his Twitter profile.
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.
After the game, it appeared that Anderson was very upset with Gobert and even implied that the team would have to choose between one of them this summer. Both players are very valuable and under contract for at least one more year, but Minnesota may have to end up trading one of them.
You may be interested in reading: Watch: Rudy Gobert punches Kyle Anderson, gets sent home by Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves are handling this issue internally and might end up suspending Gobert for the next game. The team will travel to Los Angeles to square off against the Lakers.
The Lakers have been one of the best teams in the league since the trade deadline, which is why the Timberwolves need all the help they can get. However, they won't be able to count on Jaden McDaniels and possibly Gobert as well.