Rudy Gobert offers conspiracy theory about Draymond Green’s chokehold

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert said he believes that Warriors forward Draymond Green put the Minnesota player in a chokehold just so he could get kicked out of Tuesday’s game as quickly as possible.

Green — along with Warriors guard Klay Thompson and Wolves forward Jaden McDaniels — was ejected within two minutes of Golden State’s 104-101 loss following a scuffle that took place before either team even scored a point. The 33-year-old put Gobert in a standing chokehold while trying to pull the French center off of Thompson, who had been fighting with McDaniels. 

The Wolves center was the only player from that group who wasn’t ejected. NBA official Tyler Ford explained that this was because they saw Gobert as a “peacemaker” in the situation.

Gobert told reporters when Green put his arm around his neck, “I could feel it was him.” The center also said that he suspected some antics to come from Green during the game since Steph Curry was ruled out of the contest with a knee injury.

“It’s kind of funny because before the game, I was telling myself that Steph is not playing, so I know Draymond is going to try and get ejected,” Gobert said, per The Athletic. “Because every time Steph doesn’t play, (Draymond) doesn’t want to play — it’s his guy Steph. He’ll do anything he can to get ejected.”

It’s not exactly the most shocking conspiracy in the world. This season in particular has seen the Warriors rely heavily on Curry’s scoring output to even remain within striking distance of opponents, especially at home. Still, Gobert could not have possibly expected — and really should never have to expect — a nine-second chokehold from an opponent.

“It was a long time, and if he knew how to choke it could have been way worse,” Gobert said. “He tried to. His intention was to really take me out. And I kept my hands up the whole time just to show the officials that I wasn’t trying to escalate the situation.”

Gobert then repeatedly called the incident “clown behavior.”

The two big men have been beefing for quite some time now. When Gobert famously cried after not getting selected to the All-Star game in 2019, Green mocked him on Twitter with “I guess I should cry too… no Charlotte?” Three years later, Green continued his teasing on television, telling Charles Barkley, “Cry in the car.”

Green has also rejected any comparisons between him and Gobert, and poked fun at the Wolves center after Gobert punched his teammate late last season. The French player has gotten his licks in through personal hardware, winning three Defensive Player of the Year awards immediately after Green won his first and only one. Of course, Green still has more championship rings.

This is all to say that this latest chapter in the feud is significantly more physical than its history. Whether Green intentionally went with that extreme measure to stop playing a game his longtime teammate was ruled out of is not clear, especially since he didn’t talk to the media after the game. If his goal was to avoid playing games that Curry wouldn’t, he probably achieved it given that Green will likely receive a lengthy suspension that might even go longer than Curry’s recovery time.