Why Rudy Gobert wasn’t ejected after the Wolves-Warriors fight

At first glance, it would appear the Warriors got the short end of the stick as officials doled out punishments for Tuesday’s early game scuffle between Minnesota and Golden State. The Dubs lost Draymond Green and Klay Thompson to ejection, while the Wolves only lost Jaden McDaniels.

This is in spite of the fact that center Rudy Gobert was actively involved in this fracas, as he grabbed Thompson in an attempt to help out his teammate. However, NBA crew chief Tyler Ford told pool reporter Anthony Slater of The Athletic after the game that Gobert got out of things scot-free because they determined he was a “peacemaker.”

Gobert jumped in when Thompson and McDaniels were scrapping, as he tried to yank Thompson away from his Minnesota teammate. Green came in shortly thereafter and went after Gobert with a chokehold.

“Gobert was attempting to separate Thompson and McDaniels and was ruled to be a peacemaker,” Ford said. “We reviewed all other players and acts and no unsportsmanlike acts were observed.”

Head coach Steve Kerr would certainly disagree with that assessment. Speaking to reporters after the 104-101 loss, he argued that Green only got involved because Gobert was wrapped around Thompson’s neck.

“The Draymond piece of it, if you watch the replay, Rudy had his hands on Klay’s neck,” Kerr said miming the action. “That’s why Draymond went after Rudy.”

KNBR host Greg Papa added that the ejections could have been avoided had Gobert grabbed his own teammate instead of Thompson.

“Just grab your own player,” Papa said Wednesday morning. “… If he just pulls McDaniels and not Klay, I think it’s a double tech … no one gets ejected.”

Warriors fans on social media directly responded to the “peacemaker” assessment, such as by posting a screenshot from the incident where Gobert looks like he’s putting Thompson in a chokehold. In real time, however, the Wolves center is very clearly trying to pull the second Splash Bro. off of McDaniels. This becomes even more apparent when compared with Green’s excessive use of force, which is pretty much how Ford described what the Dubs forward did.

“He aggressively put Gobert in a headlock and refuses to let go,” he said of Green’s ejection. “This is unnecessary and excessive conduct which meets the standard for a flagrant foul penalty 2.”

Fans can point to all of the instant moments of Gobert’s alleged choke all they want. The fact of the matter remains that while one side has to rely on single-frame moments of a chaotic situation, the other side has a full-length video featuring a nine-second headlock.

As for Thompson and McDaniels, Ford said the players’ altercation “didn’t immediately dissolve” and therefore “their actions warranted an ejection.” The Warriors will certainly feel hard done by with that response given that McDaniels started it by yanking Thompson’s jersey. Unfortunately, there’ll be little sympathy for the team given that Green went overboard trying to finish it.