To put it mildly, Rudy Gobert has been awful lately. In the past two games, he has shot 0-for-13 from the field. During Wednesday's loss to the Golden State Warriors, Gobert was benched down the stretch after shooting 0-for-4 from the field. Gobert's mistakes are frustrating; whether it's failing to finish easy looks around the rim or dropping easy passes, it's been rough. This season, Gobert is averaging 6.6 points, while shooting 37 percent from the field.
This frustration has boiled over for Timberwolves players. During Wednesday's loss, LaMelo Ball and Jonathan Kuminga were seen yelling at Gobert on the sideline. After Gobert batted the ball to Peyton Watson and stood there like a statue, Anthony Edwards seemingly yelled, "Why did you stop playing?"
There's no doubt in my mind that Gobert's teammates have every right to be upset with him, and these conversations are vital. Simply put, the way Gobert is playing is unacceptable. He's bobbling passes, failing to finish with physicality around the rim, and it looks like he's letting these mental mistakes carry over to the defensive side of the ball. Gobert doesn't have the same level of engagement on defense (take a look at this lapse), and in the Warriors' loss, he had just four rebounds against an undersized frontcourt.
Gobert's teammates shouldn't sugarcoat things; his play is unacceptable, and he's putting them at a massive disadvantage on offense. With Anthony Edwards being sidelined for roughly two months, the Wolves need Gobert more than ever. These tough conversations need to happen for this issue to be solved.
Holding Rudy Gobert accountable is necessary
Now, one could argue these problems mean that Rudy is as good as gone by the trade deadline. While I can see this is logical and acknowledge there are some fair doubts about Gobert's future with the team, I don't think anything is set in stone.
Again, I think this tough love is needed for this problem to be solved. There's simply no way for his teammates not to be upset with him. It's better to address these frustrations openly than to establish some sort of team mutiny.
There's also a history of Gobert having altercations with teammates. In 2024, Gobert intentionally got a three-second violation because Julius Randle wouldn't pass him the ball. Gobert punched Kyle Anderson after a heated sideline exchange in 2023. These problems quickly became forgotten, though.
Maybe this time it's different, and Gobert is declining to the point where he derails the Wolves' offense every night. Regardless, he clearly needs to be better, and it starts with his teammates holding him accountable. That's what winning teams do.
Without a doubt, Gobert's offensive struggles have never been this bad, and the onus is on him to right the ship. He's now playing around elite spacing and with a fantastic playmaker. There's simply no excuse for him to be this much of a net negative on offense, and his teammates have every right to call him out on the sidelines.
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