Rudy Gobert chose to fight back against Draymond Green with verbal — not physical — barbs.
The Timberwolves center essentially accused Green of being a fake tough guy, saying the Warriors star purposefully got himself ejected Tuesday night since he didn’t have Stephen Curry alongside him for the NBA in-season tournament game.
Green put Gobert in a headlock (or rear-naked chokehold) during a scuffle, leading to his ejection.
“It’s kind of funny because before the game, I was telling myself that Steph is not playing, so I know Draymond is going to try and get ejected. Because every time Steph doesn’t play, he doesn’t want to play – it’s his guy, Steph,” Gobert said, per TImberwolves reporter Dane Moore.
“He’ll do anything he can to get ejected.”
Gobert accused Green of not having the guts to play when the Warriors’ two-time MVP is not in the lineup.
Curry did not play in the Warriors’ 104-101 loss Tuesday due to right knee soreness.
The fight occurred less than two minutes into the game.
Draymond Green grabs Rudy Gobert by the throat Tuesday night.AP
Draymond Green goes to grab Rudy Gobert on Tuesday.AP
During a scuffle between Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels, Green grabbed Gobert in a from-behind headlock that would have made Roddy Piper proud.
The headlock seemed a little aggressive for the situation since Gobert did not start the fracas, and it wasn’t as if a full-scale brawl had broken out.
While Green’s motives remain unclear, he has not hidden his feelings about Gobert in the past.
During the 2022 All-Star Game broadcast, with Green working for TNT, he got riled up over a comment comparing himself to Gobert.
“You keep mentioning me in the same sentence with him — we’re not alike,” Green said on the broadcast. “We ain’t nothing alike.”
Green will surely be suspended, while Gobert and the Timberwolves are enjoying a seventh straight win, their longest streak since 2004, according to The Associated Press.
Steph Curry did not play Tuesday night.AP
“Clown behavior, and I’m proud of myself for being the bigger man again and again,” Gobert said, according to Moore. “And yeah, doesn’t even deserve me putting my hands on him. My team needed me tonight. I did whatever I could to keep my cool and then show that I wasn’t making the situation worse, and I do hope that the league is going to do what needs to be done because that’s just clown behavior. Not much to say. It’s clown behavior.”
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