Kyle Anderson breaks silence on Rudy Gobert clash after he was punched by his own teammate on the bench during an NBA game
MINNESOTA Timberwolves forward Kyle Anderson spoke for the first time since an altercation with a teammate on the pitch.
The 29-year-old spoke to the media on Tuesday about the altercation with team-mate Rudy Gobert and said the two had “worked it out”.
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“We definitely threw it out,” Anderson said.
“It happens all the time in sport.”
Anderson seemed more upset with the response to the altercation, describing it as “kind of lame.”
“I feel like people acted like they had never seen it before. We are grown men.”
“We can put it behind us. We both want to win.”
Gobert hit Anderson in the chest late in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Anderson didn’t appear to be seriously injured, but the two were quickly separated by staff and teammates – including Taurean Prince, who pushed Gobert back.
Gobert was escorted to the locker room and suspended for the upcoming NBA playoff play-in game.
Anderson stressed he didn’t want the incident to be hyped and the team distracted.
“We are teammates at the end of the day. I don’t want it to be a Kyle vs. Rudy thing. That is never the case.”
“I always had my teammates’ backs and we kept going,” Anderson said.
To make matters worse for the Timberwolves, the team will also be without starting forward Jaden McDaniels.
He broke his hand in the same game after hitting a wall in the first quarter.
Minnesota meets the Los Angeles Lakers in the first playoff game of the NBA playoffs for the Western Conference.
If they lose, Minnesota will face play-in game winner Pelicans-Thunder on Friday.
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