Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was the victim of an on-court altercation with Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green in Tuesday's game, and he recently spoke out about the incident.
In the first quarter of the game, Timberwolves' Jaden McDaniels got tangled up with Warriors' Klay Thompson in the middle of the court, and the two players refused to let go of each other. Gobert went to defend his teammate and grabbed Thompson, at which point Green came up to Gobert from behind and put him in a chokehold.
Gobert said of the experience, "He's grabbing me, he's grabbing me, he's grabbing me. (But) the choke wasn't good enough. Yeah, it wasn't enough for me to really have to (go to sleep). But he tried. He tried really hard, but it wasn't good enough to where I felt like I was really in danger of falling asleep or something like that."
Gobert added, "It was a long time, and if he knew how to choke it could have been way worse... His intention was to really take me out. And I kept my hands up the whole time just to show the officials that I wasn't trying to escalate the situation."
Rudy Gobert believed he was in serious peril in Draymond Green chokehold
Following the melee, Green, Thompson and McDaniels were all ejected from the game. Gobert played the rest of the game and finished with nine points, three blocks, and two assists. The Timberwolves went on to win, 104-101.
Green has since been suspended for five games for his violent behavior, the fifth suspension of his career.
This is hardly the first time Green and Gobert have butted heads in the league, but it may have been the most traumatizing for the Minnesota center.
Gobert will look to hopefully avoid any on-court brawls in tonight's game against the Suns.
