It happened late in the second quarter as Gobert and Anderson were having a heated discussion as they stood on opposite sides of the team huddle on the sidelines. It seems one particular comment by Anderson upset Gobert, who stepped forward and punched Anderson in the chest. The players were quickly separated by teammates, and Gobert was sent home.
As surprising as this might be, this is not the first time we have seen NBA teammates fighting each other in a team huddle. With tensions ramping up as the NBA playoffs are about to begin, players are more on edge and can lose their temper more easily. Unfortunately, that is the exact opposite of what you want to see, as you are hoping to see players more focused and under control.Gobert finished with only 2 points in 13 minutes, but the T-wolves managed to hold together in his absence to earn the 113-108 win over the Pelicans. To his credit, Gobert apologized for the altercation with Anderson after the game:
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.
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) April 10, 2023
The Wolves finished the regular season at 42-40, earning the number 8 seed in the Western Conference, and will next face the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Play-In tournament. If they win, they will advance to the first round of the NBA Playoffs. If they lose, they will get a second chance to advance by beating the winner of the Play-In game between New Orleans and Oklahoma City. Hopefully, Gobert can stay in a positive frame of mind and put this incident behind him.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
