Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is reportedly suspended for one game and will not travel for the team’s play-in tournament matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, according to reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The news comes after Gobert punched teammate Kyle Anderson during Minnesota’s regular season finale against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday — a game that also saw forward Jaden McDaniels’s exit after he punched a wall and fractured his hand.
Gobert was sent home before the Timberwolves came back from halftime to win 113-108. The win, bolstered by a 30-point performance from Karl-Anthony Towns and a 26-point game from Anthony Edwards, helped the team secure the No. 8 spots in the Western Conference.
With a win on Tuesday, the Timberwolves will advance to the Western Conference playoffs with the seventh seed. If the Lakers win and claim the seventh seed, Minnesota will still have a chance to earn the No. 8 seeds in the playoffs.
According to Wojnarowski, Gobert is expected to return regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s game.
The French player apologized on Twitter Sunday night for letting his “emotions get the best of” him. He specifically addressed fans of the organization and Anderson, referring to his teammate as “someone that I truly love and respect as a teammate.”
Wojnarowski reported that while the Timberwolves had to comply with league rules and suspended Gobert for at least one game, they believed he had no intent to injure Anderson. According to his report, Anderson was instigated the physical confrontation by repeatedly calling Gobert a “bitch,” while the center played with an injury.
This story will be updated.
