Bad evening for Rudy Gobert.
Opposed to the Cleveland Cavaliers this Friday, the pivot of the Minnesota Timberwolves weighed down his team, in a very tight match and ultimately lost by his team (113-104), after a disputed overtime… without him.
The Frenchman was in fact sent off 27 seconds from the end of regulation time, while his team was leading by a small point, for insinuating that the referees were corrupt.
Rudy Gobert gets a technical crowd for making money gestures 😅pic.twitter.com/B52BQmIeBJ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 9, 2024
Gobert couldn't bear to have been penalized on a decisive offensive rebound, in money time.
Unable to resist expressing his frustration, he turned to the evening's referee, Scott Foster, and rubbed his fingers, implying that the official had received money from of his adversaries.
His action was immediately punished with a technical foul, his sixth of the evening, synonymous with expulsion.
An unfortunate error, even though he had had a good match so far.
“The Bad Guy Who Tells the Truth”
“It cost my team the victory,” Gobert admitted after the match.
It was an immature reaction, everyone can make mistakes.
» But the Frenchman, always angry with the refereeing body, maintained his position vis-à-vis the referees, even though he faces a heavy fine.
“I am convinced that I was right.
Everyone in the NBA knows things need to improve.
I will still be the bad guy who tells the truth.
Again, I will accept the fine.
But I think it hurts our sport,” he assured, pointing out the abuses of sports betting.
His
attitude in any case annoyed Micah Nori, who did not avoid the subject at the press conference.
“A technical foul 27 seconds from the end of the match is unacceptable,” said the assistant coach of the Wolves, who had taken the place of Chris Finch, who was ill, in this match.
Rudy is like that, he made a gesture that automatically was going to be sanctioned.
He was obviously frustrated, but we have to be smarter.”