The NBA made Rudy Gobert pay. The Minnesota Timberwolves center has to pay a $100,000 fine after the Frenchman made a “money gesture” towards the referees in the loss in Cleveland on Saturday night.
The league has now responded to the incident and fined Gobert $100,000. The center is considered a repeat offender when it comes to public criticism of the referees, and his comments after the game also played a role in the amount of the fine.
“I’ll take it again and be the bad guy,” said Gobert after the overtime loss in Cleveland. “I think it’s detrimental to the game,” Gobert said, referring to the influence of sports betting. “I know these bets are becoming more and more important, but I don’t think it’s a good development.”
Gobert picked up his sixth foul in the fourth quarter, which resulted in an automatic ejection. On the way to the bank, Gobert made the “Money Sign”, for which he subsequently received a technical foul from the referees. Thanks to that extra free throw, the Cavaliers tied the score with 27 seconds left and ultimately won in overtime.
Wolves assistant coach Micah Nori, who was filling in for the ill head coach Chris Finch, criticized Gobert afterwards. “Honestly, that’s not acceptable. He has to be smarter because he made a gesture that is automatically a technical.” Gobert also saw this: “My reaction was honest, but of course the timing wasn’t right. It cost my team the victory. That was childish of me.”
For Gobert, it was the fourth time in his career that he was asked to pay for publicly criticizing the referees.
2024-03-11 06:37:35
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