When the Minnesota Timberwolves tip off their Western Conference semifinal series with the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday evening, Draymond Green will be just two flagrant fouls and/or three technical fouls away from an automatic league suspension. That is fantastic news for Wolves fans, and who better to incite such a circumstance than one Rudy Gobert.
The fact that Draymond is in this situation and given his history of on-court incidents, it would be no surprise if the Timberwolves at some point attempted to trick Green into getting a technical so as to earn him a suspension. One game can obviously swing the outcome of any playoff series, and not having Draymond for any singular contest would be massively detrimental to the Warriors' chances.
There are a host of interesting storylines entering this series, but the Rudy Gobert-Draymond Green beef has to be at least in the top three. It is well-documented just how much these two are not fond of each other.
For a lot of guys in the NBA, there's a competitive spirit that's present on the court during the games. But once the clock hits zero, they're able to relate to one another like normal human beings once again. That doesn't seem to really be the case when it comes to the history of tension between Gobert and Green.
Draymond Green is just 3 technicals away from a suspension
Let's take the Wolves-Warriors game from November 2023 at Chase Center for example. It was just over 90 seconds into the contest and the score was zero to zero. After a missed Anthony Edwards three-pointer, Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels got into a brief scuffle after it appeared Thompson latched his hand onto McDaniels' jersey.
Standing in the general vicinity of these two during their altercation, Gobert restrained Klay so as to prevent things from escalating further. Apparently not liking what he saw, Draymond came up from behind Rudy and swiftly put him in a head lock, which became arguably the most viral part of the entire incident.
Six months later, Minnesota was in the conference finals and Draymond was offered a spot as a guest analyst on Inside the NBA during the broadcast of the WCF games. He used the opportunity to criticize Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns, to which the Timberwolves players all collectively responded by refusing to do any interviews with TNT during the next playoff round, as a way of standing in solidarity with their teammates.
Prior to the aforementioned incidents, there have been plenty of subtle comments and other shots thrown between these two over the years as well. All that is to say that Rudy knows Draymond and his tendencies well, and he could seek to take advantage of that knowledge during the course of what is sure to be a high-intensity series.
At any given point during a close, tense game, Draymond Green could easily already be feeling just a tad bit on edge. If Rudy Gobert can poke the bear at just the right time, he could take one for the team and get the Warriors' defensive anchor tossed or even suspended. Don't be surprised if it happens, given that Green already incurred four technicals and two flagrants in round one.