Rudy Gobert has been suspended one game for punching his teammate.
If the eighth-seeded Timberwolves lose to the seventh-seeded Lakers on Tuesday, they'll return home Friday to play the winner of the New Orleans-Oklahoma City play-in game for a chance to advance into the Western Conference playoffs. If Minnesota wins on Tuesday, it will move on to a first-round playoff series.
If the eighth-seeded Timberwolves lose to the seventh-seeded Lakers on Tuesday, they'll return home Friday to play the winner of the New Orleans-Oklahoma City play-in game for a chance to advance into the Western Conference playoffs. If Minnesota wins on Tuesday, it will move on to a first-round playoff series.
Gobert, who is not traveling with the team to Los Angeles, publicly apologized and privately talked through the incident with Anderson, sources told ESPN, but the organization believed it had no choice but to suspend Gobert for Tuesday's crucial game against the Lakers.
The organization was unhappy with Anderson's part that started as a verbal squabble in a second-quarter timeout Sunday and escalated into Gobert throwing a punch at Anderson's chest after Anderson called him a "b----" several times, sources said.
Gobert had injured his back in Saturday's victory over San Antonio and insisted that he was playing through pain in Sunday's game and didn't deserve to have his effort challenged in the huddle, sources said. Still, it was understood that Gobert couldn't throw a punch at a teammate in an NBA game -- wherever it landed on him -- without facing team punishment.
The Timberwolves will also be without key backup center Naz Reid, who was lost for the season following surgery on his left wrist.
Minnesota acquired Gobert in a blockbuster deal with the Utah Jazz in July, giving up four first-round picks and All-Rookie center Walker Kessler as part of a trade package.
The organization was unhappy with Anderson's part that started as a verbal squabble in a second-quarter timeout Sunday and escalated into Gobert throwing a punch at Anderson's chest after Anderson called him a "b----" several times, sources said.
Gobert had injured his back in Saturday's victory over San Antonio and insisted that he was playing through pain in Sunday's game and didn't deserve to have his effort challenged in the huddle, sources said. Still, it was understood that Gobert couldn't throw a punch at a teammate in an NBA game -- wherever it landed on him -- without facing team punishment.
The Timberwolves will also be without key backup center Naz Reid, who was lost for the season following surgery on his left wrist.
Minnesota acquired Gobert in a blockbuster deal with the Utah Jazz in July, giving up four first-round picks and All-Rookie center Walker Kessler as part of a trade package.
This has to be the worse trade in the history of NBA at the time of the trade. Nothing to do with the punch or this season.
-Even if they were certain he would match his best season ever for the rest of his contract- still a terrible trade
-he was on a max contract already - probably not worth that much in salary, let alone giving up picks/players, 50% of the league probably wouldn't even have taken him of the Jazz's hands for nothing! simply because of the contact obligation
-he doesn't even fit with their team, twin towers didn't even work that well in the 80's and 90's with the way the NBA is played currently it's not even certain teams can win with 1 star big man, let alone 2!! Half the teams bench their center the last 6 minutes of playoff games anyway.
Heck, in the current NBA, Jokic and Embiid haven't even sniffed the finals and they are both awesome. Might want to see one of those teams have some playoff success before deciding to go all in for the next 5 years with two big men!
-Even if they were certain he would match his best season ever for the rest of his contract- still a terrible trade
-he was on a max contract already - probably not worth that much in salary, let alone giving up picks/players, 50% of the league probably wouldn't even have taken him of the Jazz's hands for nothing! simply because of the contact obligation
-he doesn't even fit with their team, twin towers didn't even work that well in the 80's and 90's with the way the NBA is played currently it's not even certain teams can win with 1 star big man, let alone 2!! Half the teams bench their center the last 6 minutes of playoff games anyway.
Heck, in the current NBA, Jokic and Embiid haven't even sniffed the finals and they are both awesome. Might want to see one of those teams have some playoff success before deciding to go all in for the next 5 years with two big men!
