Last summer, the Minnesota Timberwolves completed a blockbuster trade, acquiring Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz in exchange for Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Leandro Bolmaro, Walker Kessler, Jarred Vanderbilt, four first-round picks and a pick swap.
Gobert is a solid rebounder and one of the best defensive players in the NBA. But as soon as the trade happened, plenty of basketball pundits made it known that they were not a huge fan of this move from the Timberwolves.
Additionally, the Timberwolves have found themselves with gaping holes on both sides of the ball, and Gobert hasn’t been the much-needed plug that the team thought he’d be coming into the season.
So there has been much debate whether or not the price the Timberwolves paid to acquire Gobert was actually worth it. On top of this, Gobert’s fit with fellow big man Karl-Anthony Towns, is still very much in question.
Granted that the 30-year old defensive center is still a double-double machine, but he hasn’t really shown improvement from last season while looking like he has lost a step which feels disappointing for a player that was acquired for an insane haul of draft picks and depth.
So with all that, the Timberwolves still managed to hang around and finish as the eight seed, securing a play-in spot. But then yesterday, during the last day of the 2022-23 regular season, the Wolves imploded and especially Gobert managed to make matters worse for him and his team.
During the first half in their game against the New Orleans Pelicans, broadcast cameras caught an alteration on the bench between Gobert and Kyle Anderson. This even led to Gobert throwing a punch at Anderson, which ended his day, as he was escorted to the locker room and sent home by his own bosses.
Oh my Rudy Gobert just threw a punch at his own teammate Kyle Anderson pic.twitter.com/6GP5wwkCqW
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) April 9, 2023
NBA Twitter reacted accordingly and went after Gobert, destroying him for his embarrassing actions.
Timberwolves have just been an all-time low vibes team all season https://t.co/T4gZNLGuv6
— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) April 9, 2023
Minny gave up five first round draft picks for this. https://t.co/CzmsNjCfcW
— Sid Seixeiro (@Sid_Seixeiro) April 9, 2023
Gobert is the absolute worst teammate. https://t.co/dzY0CrwRGf
— Grizz 901 Podcast (@Grizz901Podcast) April 9, 2023
Rudy Gobert today:
2 Points
0 Assists
0 Blocks
1 Sassy Attitude
1 Weak Punch to His TeammateTHE WORST TRADE IN THE HISTORY OF SPORTS 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/bFBepq7zTc
— Hater Central (@TheHateCentral) April 9, 2023
in game 82??? https://t.co/eL6bFssrKB
— SJ (@SJBasketball8) April 9, 2023
But he sets really good screens https://t.co/ArV5Hc2OTV
— Jason Timpf (@_JasonLT) April 9, 2023
Complete lack of maturity or self awareness. From this guy?
Shocker. https://t.co/TLJVJ7HTHj pic.twitter.com/gPcNz3WS7o
— Letting Go (@ProvideContext) April 9, 2023
Worst trade in NBA history by far https://t.co/VD1slr5Vx9
— 🃏 (@saintworldd) April 9, 2023
And it’s year one… https://t.co/JcO2wquxqk pic.twitter.com/7lNggzxa7d
— Cole Milz (@cole_milz) April 9, 2023
ARE YOU SERIOUS?! 🤦🏽♂️ #NBA https://t.co/gpnwylMplF
— Greg Anthony (@GregAnthony50) April 9, 2023
he’s so unlikeable lmao https://t.co/v7ai2BlBIP
— sreekar (@sreekyshooter) April 9, 2023
Rudy Gobert a hoe and he started Covid. https://t.co/wPqWNE9ksF
— Big 🐰 (@FreddieGibbs) April 9, 2023
thema rudy gobert pic.twitter.com/jBUa6AtmQ3
— ivy (@notoriousivy) April 10, 2023
Rudy Gobert playing for the Shanghai Sharks next season pic.twitter.com/O9KPnXOF2q
— Rah☔️ (@DontHateRah) April 10, 2023
Get Gobert up outta MN, soft. pic.twitter.com/CM9ZbUHgtZ
— |SOTA| (@BigSota_) April 9, 2023
Gobert been trash since he gave the whole NBA covid pre bubble
— Ak (@icecicle04) April 10, 2023
Donavon Mitchell was right
— Goob (@TrolledByEmbiid) April 9, 2023
