The viral clip from Wednesday night may have made it look like Rudy Gobert was catching heat from LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga, but the Timberwolves center says the moment has been blown out of proportion.
Minnesota dropped a 119-114 decision to the Golden State Warriors at Target Center, and the postgame conversation quickly shifted away from the final score. A timeout exchange involving Ball and Kuminga appeared tense on video, but Gobert said Thursday that he didn’t read it that way.
“I didn’t feel like there was any of that,” Gobert said, via the Timberwolves. “I don’t know. I’m not on social media… What in particular?”
Once the clip was brought up directly, Gobert admitted there was frustration in the moment, but he pushed back hard on the idea that anything ugly happened.
“Sometimes people make an assumption of what’s going on, and it’s totally something different with the angles and stuff,” Gobert said. “So, there might be some of that, but I didn’t feel any animosity.
Now, there was some frustration, for sure. I was frustrated.
They were frustrated… Those guys have been great. The communication has been good.
“I’ve really tried to help them integrate, and also when you have a frustrating night, sometimes you have frustration,” Gobert continued. “But I didn’t feel like there was any disrespect or anything like that. Just guys that want to win and try to help each other out.”
Minnesota brought in Ball and Kuminga over the summer, so seeing two newcomers animated with a veteran like Gobert naturally turned heads. Still, Gobert said he wants to look at the clip himself before drawing any conclusions.
“I’d like to see the images, see what it looks like, but in the moment I didn’t feel there was anything bad,” Gobert said. “And there’s been bad things in the past, but no, that wasn’t anything bad.”
That line carries obvious baggage. Gobert was involved in a notorious incident in April 2023, when he punched then-Timberwolves teammate Kyle Anderson during a timeout against the New Orleans Pelicans. Minnesota suspended the three-time All-Star for one game after that episode.
This time, though, Gobert said there was no shouting match and no real confrontation, just frustration from players trying to figure things out in the middle of a loss.
The bigger issue for Minnesota might be Gobert’s play. He finished with just one point on 0-for-4 shooting, along with four rebounds, one assist and one steal in 20 minutes against the Warriors. The defeat dropped the Timberwolves to 3-2, and it came in their first game without Anthony Edwards, who is expected to miss up to two months after knee surgery.
Gobert’s rough night in that one followed another cold shooting performance. On Monday in a 127-125 overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, he went 0-for-9. Over his last two games, he’s now 0-for-13 from the field.
“Rough couple of days,” Gobert said. “Yeah, a lot of things that I got to finish and I didn’t finish.
So, I’m just going to keep putting in work. Keep putting in work.
It’s a lot of games. It’s a lot of tough stretch for us, too.
So yeah, keep putting in the work and finishing strong, especially around the rim. That’s really important for our team, and I hold myself to the highest standard for that.
So definitely got to be better.”
Minnesota’s next chance to bounce back comes Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers at Target Center at 8 p.m. ET, and it’ll also be the Timberwolves’ first NBA Cup game.
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