Timberwolves Coach Finch and center Gobert: A price worth paying

Do the Minnesota Timberwolves players stand up for themselves enough?

Even as the NBA Playoffs have been highlighting the one-game suspension of Golden State Warriors Draymond Green after he stomped on the chest of Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis, you have to wonder whether or not it was worth the foul to stand up for himself after his ankle was grabbed during the play.

Standing up for oneself in the heat of professional sports competition seems to be getting more and more attention of late.  It’s not that it’s a new phenomenon in sports. Rather, it’s something that has been happening in the NBA from the dawn of its inception. Years ago, the Detroit Pistons who were the NBAs Bad Boys were incredibly physical with the up-and-coming Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan.

The Pistons actually had a special set of physical rules designed to stop him, known as the Jordan Rules, which they used to intimidate, harass, distract, and punish him throughout the game.

Those rules would never happen in today’s NBA. But it does bring up an intriguing question: How would the Timberwolves handle play that is outside of the rulebook?

Timberwolves are not timid

If you watched two of the last March 2023 games played by the Minnesota Timberwolves, you have to ask yourself why no fouls were called objectively on their opponents. This tipoff against the Phoenix Suns is a clear violation, but the officials in the game saw no infraction and called no foul. That was just one of an overwhelming number of questionable plays in the game.

While some fans and the occasional click-starved NBA analyst will fan the fears of Minnesota Timberwolves fans over the price to acquire veteran center Rudy Gobet, there are long-term benefits that cannot easily be quantified from having done so.

One such unquantifiable benefit is the example that Gobert is setting for younger players like SF Jaden McDaniels, C Naz Reid, and PF Josh Minott. That example includes standing up for yourself, come what may.

I’m not suggesting that Timberwolves players step onto the basketball court half-cocked, and get triggered into an emotional tirade at each and every foul called or not called that impacts their play. But there are times in which you have to fight the fights that need to be fought.  And in the case of the Minnesota Timberwolves Coach Finch and center Rudy Gobert: Fines that are levied from doing so are prices worth paying.