Did D’Angelo Russell take swipe at teammate Rudy Gobert following loss?
Nov 9, 2022; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) dribbles the ball against the Phoenix Suns during the second quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
Rudy Gobert continues to look like the least popular guy in the NBA, even among his own teammates.
The Minnesota Timberwolves fell in a tight one on Friday to the Charlotte Hornets, who are in 13th place in the East and currently playing without All-Star guard LaMelo Ball. The 110-108 loss dropped the Timberwolves to 10-9 on the season.
After the game, Wolves guard D’Angelo Russell had a seemingly unflattering mark about his teammate Gobert. When asked by reporters about how their chemistry was going, Russell appeared to shade Gobert’s hands.
“He catch the ball, he’ll score,” said Russell of Gobert, per Chris Hine of the Star Tribune.
Gobert, who is infamous for his stone hands of sorts, actually played pretty well against the Hornets. He had 17 points and 17 rebounds, going 6-for-10 from the floor and hitting all five of his free throw attempts. But Gobert had a major flub in a key moment when he botched a lob pass from Russell with inside of two minutes left in the fourth quarter and Minnesota down three.
Gobert tries to Air Jordan a lob pass in crunch time but only gets all Air pic.twitter.com/M4HR0ImAoo
— hoops bot (@hoops_bot) November 26, 2022
To his credit, Gobert acknowledged his screw-up after the game.
“Sometimes I fumble it,” Gobert said, also per Hine. “Most of the time, I get it and something good happens. As long as we can keep that trust and I can try to put myself in the right spots for him [Russell] to find me.”
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year Gobert, who was Minnesota’s crown acquisition of the summer, had actually helped the Wolves rattle off five straight wins before the loss to Charlotte. But his teammates are still having a hard time adjusting to him overall (and not just Russell either).
