Rudy Gobert is feuding with a player who is far smaller than him.
The Minnesota Timberwolves center Gobert had a minor dust-up with Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso in Sunday’s game. Right as time expired in the first half, Caruso hit Gobert with an unnecessary box-out, and Gobert responded by throwing Caruso off him. The two then exchanged words before being separated by teammates.
Here is the video of the incident, which showed that Caruso initiated the contact and got Gobert low and in his right knee area.
You can see why Gobert was upset — Caruso hits him low & right at the horn to end the half — there's no rebound to be had. Unnecessary. Who's ready for a spirited 2nd half? pic.twitter.com/H11z39Txf4
— Alan Horton (@WolvesRadio) April 1, 2024
After the game, which Chicago went on to win 109-101, Gobert sent a warning to Caruso.
“I had a knee injury a couple years ago on the same play and missed a month because someone ran into my knee,” he said, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “I hope [the NBA] look[s] at this, because if they don’t hold people accountable, I’m gonna hold them accountable myself.”
While Caruso is known as one of the NBA’s hardest workers and strongest fundamental players, Gobert probably has a point. Sure, the 6-foot-5 Caruso didn’t have too many other ways to box out the 7-foot-1 Gobert there. But considering that the buzzer had already sounded at that point, a box-out likely wasn’t even needed in the first place.
Gobert is out of luck if he wants another shot at Caruso because their season series is now over. But this is certainly a very interesting turn of events after Caruso was once prominently on the receiving end of a dirty in-game play.
