Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert says he has “empathy” for Draymond Green after the Golden State Warriors forward was suspended indefinitely earlier this week. Following the Wolves’ 119-101 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, Gobert shared his thoughts on the matter with ESPN.
“I have empathy for him,” Gobert said. “You see somebody that’s not well inside and suffering. You take away the game and all that, and you want somebody to be well and be able to do what we do every night and compete and be happy.
“I’m not sure what [the indefinite suspension] really means, so it’s hard to tell [if it’s fair]. I mean, you don’t want someone to get badly hurt. You’ve got to fix that. That’s it.”
Green was handed a unique indefinite suspension by the league for hitting Phoenix Suns big man Jusuf Nurkic in the head. That was his third ejection and second suspension in just 15 games this season. His previous suspension, a five-game ban that at the time was the longest of his career, came after he put Gobert in a chokehold on Nov. 15.
In the aftermath of that incident, Gobert called Green out for “clown behavior” and said he had expected Green to get ejected from that game because Steph Curry was absent. “Every time Steph doesn’t play, he doesn’t want to play without his guy Steph, so he’s doing anything to get ejected,” Gobert said.
While the chokehold was the most recent, and notable, event involving the two elite defenders, it wasn’t the first time they had crossed paths.
In 2019, after Gobert cried at a press conference about missing the All-Star Game, Green sent a tweet trolling him. A few years later, during the 2022 All-Star Weekend, Green again brought up Gobert’s tears.
“One thing I can assure you: If I didn’t make it this year, I wasn’t going to cry. I can 100 percent assure you that. I mean, the man cried on national television when he didn’t make the All-Star team. Thank God he’s made the next three. You can’t cry, Chuck. I said it then, I’m gonna say it now.”
A month later, Gobert said he had “no beef” with Green. However, the Frenchman wasn’t above some trolling himself. In October of 2022, he tweeted “insecurity is always loud” after Green punched Jordan Poole during practice. Green, to little surprise, kept that one in his back pocket. When Gobert punched teammate Kyle Anderson in the chest during a game in April of 2023, Green sent an identical “insecurity is always loud” tweet of his own.
In a literal sense, Gobert’s latest quote reads as an attempt to take the high road, but given their history it’s not hard to see what he’s is doing here. He’s also not the only player to suggest that Green has deeper issues than whatever’s happening on the court.
“What’s going on with him?” Nurkic said after his run-in with Green. “I don’t know. Personally, I feel like that brother needs help.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant, who played with Green for three seasons in the Bay Area, said he hopes Green “gets the help he needs.”
