The Minnesota Timberwolves have suspended three-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert for Tuesday’s play-in tournament game with against the Lakers.
The team announced the decision on Monday, one day after Gobert punched teammate Kyle Anderson on the bench during a game against New Orleans on Sunday.
“Emotions got the best of me today,” Gobert tweeted Sunday. “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.”
Minnesota also will be without wing Jaden McDaniels after he broke his hand punching a wall during the game against the Pelicans.
Remarkably after both the Gobert and McDaniels incidents, Minnesota came back to beat the Pelicans to ensure their spot in Tuesday’s play-in game against the Lakers.
Gobert averaged 13.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in his first season with the Timberwolves.
McDaniels scored 12.1 points per game in his third season on 39.8% shooting from three-point range while blossoming into one of the NBA’s top defenders.
The winner of the Lakers-Timberwolves game will face No. 2-seeded Memphis in the first round of the NBA playoffs beginning on Sunday. The loser will face the winner of New Orleans-Oklahoma City on Friday, with the winner getting to face No. 1 Denver in the playoffs.
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