While most of the attention in the Warriors vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Western Conference semifinals series will be on superstars Steph Curry and Anthony Edwards, there is another matchup that is generating interest.
Warriors forward Draymond Green and Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert will face off as two of the NBA's best defenders, who happen to have plenty of history.
Gobert spoke to reporters after Timberwolves shoot-around Tuesday and was asked about his matchup with Green in Game 1 at Target Center and throughout the series.
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SIGN UP HERE "To me, it's a team matchup. I'm focused on trying to help my team win, try to be the best Rudy I can be and play basketball," Gobert said. "Obviously he's Draymond, he's going to be an all-time great defender, he's going to be very physical and he's going to be himself. For me, it's about being myself and also being physical and doing all the things to help my team win."
Gobert has faced off against Green and the Warriors seven times since he was traded to the Timberwolves in July 2022, and he is averaging 10.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks with 2.7 turnovers per game in those contests.
Both Gobert (2018, 2019, 2021, 2024) and Green (2017) are former Defensive Player of the Year recipients, and the Frenchman knows exactly what to expect from the Warriors' fiery forward.
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"I enjoy it. [The] competitive aspect of the game and the physicality," Gobert said when asked about Green potentially baiting him into fouls. "I'm excited, he's a fierce competitor and so am I."
Gobert and Green famously were involved in a benches-clearing skirmish early in the 2023-24 NBA season that led to Green putting Gobert in a chokehold and resulted in the NBA suspending Green for five games.
Green was asked by co-host Baron Davis on the latest episode of his podcast, "The Draymond Green Show With Baron Davis" about the matchup against Gobert, and specifically that moment. Green did not have much to say about it, but made it clear his actions in that moment are a thing of the past.
"I've grown so much as a human being since that moment," Green said of the Gobert incident.
Green and Gobert have plenty of additional history, often one-sided, which includes Green subtly dissing Gobert over his Olympics usage on Team France last summer, claiming he "sucks" in response to heckling Timberwolves fans, shading him for surrendering a game-winning shot to Luka Dončić last year in the playoffs, calling him "BBQ chicken" in his matchup against Nikola Jokić, plus a handful of additional jabs.
However, Green also has, perhaps backhandedly, declared Gobert no longer is "trash," only due to him playing alongside Edwards, and begrudgingly admitted his longtime adversary one day will be a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame because he's won DPOY awards, three of which Green doesn't believe he deserved.
That's growth ... right?