Rudy Gobert was not afraid to take a humorous shot at his Minnesota Timberwolves teammates while praising one of the team’s midseason additions, Kyle Anderson.
Gobert spoke to reporters Tuesday before the Timberwolves’ Western Conference clash against the Memphis Grizzlies at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. The Frenchman was asked about what the T-Wolves had missed from Anderson with the latter on different teams over the past season and a half.
“I think just passing the ball,” Gobert answered with a straight face, drawing laughs from reporters in the scrum.
“I’ll be honest, I’ll be straight up. I’m not going to lie. But like, yeah, someone that is looking to pass the ball to his teammates. Simple, right?”
The Timberwolves switched up their starting lineup this season, replacing pass-first point guard Mike Conley Jr. with the more trigger-happy Donte DiVincenzo. The move has coincided with Minnesota dropping from being a top-10 assist team last season to about middle-of-the-pack so far this season.
While DiVincenzo has averaged a career-high 4.2 assists this year, Gobert evidently misses the playmaking that veterans like Anderson and Conley bring to the table.
Gobert didn’t touch the ball much on Tuesday, as Anthony Edwards went off for 41 points in a 117-110 win over the Grizzlies. Ant-Man finished with just two assists, neither coming on a pass to Gobert, who tallied just five points on two field goal attempts.
Anderson, who ironically finished without an assist in his 14 minutes of play, infamously got punched by Gobert during an altercation two seasons ago. Gobert appears to be willing to look past their past transgressions so long as Slo-Mo can throw him a lob every once in a while.
Gobert’s 10.9 points on 6.3 shot attempts per game through 58 contests this season are his lowest averages over a full decade.
