Draymond Green has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons after he put Rudy Gobert in a chokehold in the game between the Golden State Warriors and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night. After the contest, his head coach, Steve Kerr, explained Green’s actions.
“If you watch the replay, Rudy had his hands on Klay’s neck, and that’s why Draymond went after Rudy,” Kerr said. “I saw one replay right after it happened. Guys on the back of the bench were telling us that Rudy had Klay and that’s why Draymond went at Rudy. That’s all I know.”
"There's no way Klay Thompson should've been thrown out of the game."
Steve Kerr shares his perspective of the first-quarter skirmish pic.twitter.com/oOgK2utKyk
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 15, 2023
You can check out the sequence, which happened right at the start of the game, below.
Draymond Green put Rudy Gobert in a headlock and was ejected 😳 pic.twitter.com/ub7ZT34WiL
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) November 15, 2023
While Gobert did have his hands on Thompson’s neck at one point, it was for a very brief moment. He wasn’t by any means trying to choke him and was just trying to pull him away from Jaden McDaniels. Green’s reaction was way over the top and the Frenchman did not deserve to be put in a chokehold.
The referees pretty much came to the same conclusion. Green was ejected for the chokehold on Gobert, while Thompson and McDaniels were also tossed for starting the ruckus. I doubt the two would be facing any further punishment, but Draymond most probably will.
Rudy Gobert Took Big Shots At Draymond Green Post-Game
To say Gobert was not pulling punches after the game about this incident would be an understatement. The Frenchman was furious and called it clown behavior on Green’s part. Gobert also took a shot at Draymond by claiming he doesn’t want to play when Stephen Curry isn’t playing.
“Every time Steph doesn’t play, he doesn’t want to play without his guy Steph so he does anything he can to get ejected.”
Curry missed the game due to right knee soreness and Gobert says he knew Green would do something crazy. That was an absolutely brutal statement from the 31-year-old, and you just know that Draymond is going to fire back at him at some point.
As for the game itself, the Timberwolves, who were down double digits at one stage, mounted a fourth-quarter comeback to win 104-101. Gobert had 9 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals in the contest, as Minnesota improved to 8-2. They are also now 2-0 in the In-Season Tournament.
The Warriors, meanwhile, played pretty well, considering all of their Big 3 missed basically the entire game, but this loss now drops them to 6-6 on the season and to 1-1 in the tournament.
Draymond Green Thinks Rudy Gobert Is Soft
Draymond and Gobert do have a bit of history, having taken shots at each other quite a few times over the years. So, when the Frenchman hit his teammate Kyle Anderson during a game earlier this year, the Warriors star was always going to chime in on the situation. Draymond stated that some people think Gobert is a bi**h and he believes Rudy is on the softer side.
“There are some words that as a man you just don’t say to me. The choice word that is the bi**h word, Kyle Anderson used it towards Rudy Gobert… Kyle Anderson uttered words to Rudy Gobert that a lot of people think. I personally think Rudy Gobert is on the softer side myself but he gained a little respect from me. He stood up for himself, I have never seen the guy stand up for himself.”
Think it’s safe to say whatever little respect he gained back then would have gone again after Gobert’s recent comments. We’ll have to wait for a while to see these two face off again, as the third and final meeting between these teams is on March 24.
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