After escaping with a win in Game 4, the Minnesota Timberwolves collectively decided to stop appearing for any interviews on ‘Inside the NBA.’ The reason, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania, has to do with the constant disrespect of Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert.
“Edwards was surrounded by a tight-knit team, one with such strong chemistry that it decided as a group that no player would appear on TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ postgame show after their victory in Game 4 in Dallas,” wrote Shams.
The problem is specifically with TNT co-host Draymond Green, who made it his mission in these playoffs to discredit and demean Rudy’s career and impact on the floor.
“The decision was a sign of support for Gobert and Towns, who were the subject of derisive and seemingly personal criticism from panelist and Golden State forward Draymond Green.”
Rudy Gobert has had a controversial tenure with the Timberwolves. The 7’1″ center averaged 14.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game on 66% shooting this season but he’s become the subject of criticism by players and fans over some of the times that he’s gotten exposed defensively. Most of the noise has come from 34-year-old Draymond Green, who made his vendetta against Gobert public on TNT.
Draymond Green is a 4x champion and 4x All-Star with the Warriors and his status as an enforcer for the group has gotten him into plenty of conflicts over the years. But in the case of Rudy Gobert, a 4x Defensive Player of the Year, Draymond has developed an especially deep disdain for the French big man and nobody knows why.
By all accounts, the first signs of a beef between the two emerged when Gobert was caught crying on camera after not making the All-Star team. Draymond clowned him right away and has treated him as soft ever since.
Since taking on a role in the media, Draymond has turned up his hate talk for Rudy ten-fold and it has come in the form of public criticism at any opportunity he gets. In the 2024 playoffs alone, Draymond blamed Rudy for getting cooked in the pain and famously recited the “barbeque chicken” line to describe his lack of resistance against Nikola Jokic.
Rudy Gobert Says The Timberwolves Have Been Through Constant Adversity
Rudy Gobert has been a target from the very beginning. Ever since signing a record-setting five-year, $205 million contract in 2020, he’s been the subject of constant scrutiny from critics everywhere. The hate only got worse for the former 27th overall pick when he was traded to the Timberwolves for a massive haul of picks.
Through it all, Gobert and the Timberwolves have had to hear some nasty comments about their team but they came together at the right time to prove that they can overcome the adversity.
“We’ve been through a lot of adversity as a group over the last two years, individually, collectively, and that never broke us,” Gobert said. “That made us better. I don’t think we plan on giving up now. It’s been some amazing progress. And we gotta keep going through that.”
After losing to the Mavericks in 5 games, nobody knows what’s next for the Timberwolves. I believe they are likely to run it back next season with Edwards, Towns, and Gobert but many others think they’d be better off trading at least one of their prized big men.
Whatever happens, don’t expect any of the players to appear on ‘Inside the NBA’ as long as Draymond Green is there. This group is too close to not support each other and that means standing united against a common enemy. Unless Draymond apologizes or backs off on his hate for Gobert, the Timberwolves will cut ties with him completely and it may be for the best.
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