The Minnesota Timberwolves suspended Rudy Gobert after he threw a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson during Sunday’s game, but Anderson insists there are no hard feelings between the two.
Gobert and Anderson got into a heated altercation during the first half of Minnesota’s 113-108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Anderson said something that Gobert did not appreciate, and the three-time Defensive Player of the Year threw a swing at Anderson’s chest area. You can see the video here.
Anderson spoke with reporters about the incident ahead of Tuesday’s play-in tournament game against the Los Angeles Lakers. He downplayed it and said he and Gobert “hashed it out.”
Kyle Anderson said he and Rudy Gobert "hashed it out" Sunday night and put the incident behind them already. He called the reaction to what happened "kind of lame." Here's his full quote: pic.twitter.com/19IxH9grU8
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) April 11, 2023
“We definitely hashed it out. That happens all the time in sports. I feel like people are acting like they’ve never seen it before,” Anderson said. “We’re grown men. We’re able to put it behind us. We both want to win. We spoke about it that night and just seeing how everything is playing out is kind of lame, honestly. We’re teammates at the end of the day. I don’t want it to be a Kyle vs. Rudy thing. That’s never the case. I always got my teammates’ back, and we’ve moved on.”
Arguments among teammates happen all the time, but it is far less common to see a player throw a swing at a teammate in the middle of a game. Gobert has since apologized, and one report shed light on why he became so irate with Anderson.
The Timberwolves are the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, so they cannot be eliminated on Tuesday. The winner of their game against the Lakers will earn the No. 7 seed and a spot in the playoffs. The loser will face the winner of the No. 9 vs. No. 10 game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder to determine who gets the final playoff spot.
