Rudy Gobert had a very poor choice of words after Tuesday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves were pushed to the brink of elimination on Tuesday with a 112-97 defeat to the Nuggets in Game 5 of their second-round series. In particular, Gobert’s defensive performance against Denver star center Nikola Jokic was met with criticism. Jokic went off for a playoff-high 40 points on 15-for-22 from the field. Many of those buckets came against one-on-one coverage by Gobert.
Look at the video. Gobert was right there. Jokic is just too good. pic.twitter.com/FjgShI9INQ
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) May 15, 2024
At his press conference after the game, the Ls continued for Gobert. Sitting next to teammate Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Gobert asked for the light to be turned down in the media room.
“Could you lower the light?” said Gobert. “[Too] bright.”
https://twitter.com/OhYesHeDid24/status/1790625063386890742
The memes quickly ensued over Gobert’s admission that the lights were too bright for him. Many felt that was a very apt metaphor for his lackluster defensive performance in Game 5.
Rudy Gobert just set himself up for generational “Lights are too bright” memes. https://t.co/Y7J6GVVAXp
— HTB ♨️ (@HenryTheBlasian) May 15, 2024
Looks like the lights were too bright for Rudy Gobert https://t.co/uryTci5cVZ
— 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚎𝚍𝚒 𝙾𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝙵𝚊𝚗 𝙲𝚕𝚞𝚋 (@TheCediFanClub) May 15, 2024
Rudy Gobert told the world what we already knew. The lights were too bright 😂https://t.co/epZD55QWsH
— Mink Flow (@currypistonn) May 15, 2024
The lights were literally too bright for Rudy Goberthttps://t.co/SOMjxEJVIK
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 15, 2024
Gobert does have somewhat of a reputation as a regular-season merchant. He now has four career Defensive Player of the Year Awards (tied for most all-time) but often sees his effectiveness wane in the postseason as opposing teams game-plan for his limitations in foot speed and agility. Gobert still has yet to ever make it to the conference finals in his career too, and that streak will continue if Minnesota, now down 3-2 in the series, loses just one more game to Denver.
Granted, Game 5 might not have been Gobert’s fault since it was just an offensive masterclass from the three-time MVP Jokic. But it may be worth noting that Jokic has a history of abusing Gobert’s one-on-one defense.
