Source: David Berding / Getty
The Minnesota Timberwolves were battling the New Orleans Pelicans for the eighth seed in the NBA Play-In Tournament, and things got a bit heated.
However, the teams weren’t at odds to make the play-in tourney, but the Wolves managed to have some inner turmoil on the bench that turned physical.
Midway through the second quarter, Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson were seen jawing off at each other during a timeout. Gobert reacted to something Anderson said by lunging forward and punching him. Team members quickly ensured the two were separated as Anderson attempted to retaliate.
According to ESPN, Gobert became physical after Anderson told him to “Shut the f–k up, b—h,” and despite being broken up, they continued to trash-talk each other through halftime.
The incident was so severe that the Wolves kicked Gobert out of the game and sent him home. However, Gobert missing in action didn’t stop the Wolves from pulling themselves out of 14 point deficit in the third quarter thanks to a 3-pointer from Karl-Anthony Towns. The pivotal moment helped the Wolves eke out the 106-104 win.
Cooler heads prevailed after the victory, and Gobert apologized for his actions on Twitter.
“Emotions got the best of me today. I should not have reacted the way I did regardless of what was said. I wanna apologize to the fans, the organization and particularly to Kyle, who is someone that I truly love and respect as a teammate,” he wrote.
Anderson attempted to smooth things over, too, saying it all boils down to a desire to win.
“We’ll move forward,” Anderson said. “We want to win games. It is what it is. We’ll keep it in house. I mean, it ain’t the first time someone has swung on me…I think our tempers just flared. That’s all. It is what it is. We’ll speak about it and move on. We’re grown men.”
Now as the eighth seed, they’ll battle it out with the seventh seed Lakers with the winner getting locked into a series with the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
See how Twitter reacted to the internal team turmoil spilling out below.
Minnesota Timberwolves Rudy Gobert Punches Teammate Kyle Anderson During Timeout, Twitter Reacts was originally published on cassiuslife.com
