Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert couldn’t help but feel insulted after he wasn’t selected to join teammates Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards in Indianapolis for this month’s NBA All-Star Game.
“I told (Towns) to just enjoy his moment. He earned it,” Gobert told reporters Friday, according to Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “He was feeling bad. I said, ‘You don’t have to feel bad.’ It’s not the first time it happened for me and probably not the last time I get disrespected. But I’m in a place now where I always see the bigger picture.”
Despite being the anchor for the NBA’s top defense, Gobert wasn’t among the West reserves selected by the league’s head coaches.
Gobert entered Friday’s slate of games ranking second in rebounds (12.4 per contest), fifth in field-goal percentage (63.9%), and sixth in total blocks (97). The veteran big man also sits third in contested twos (446) and fourth in screen assists (217).
Towns says Gobert’s play was instrumental in the T-Wolves’ strong first half and believes he and Edwards wouldn’t be on the midseason exhibition game roster without the Frenchman’s efforts.
“Big fella deserved to be in the All-Star Game, and all of this is all possible because of him,” Towns said. “Being No. 1 in the West, you need to have a defensive impact. To have the best defensive player in the NBA definitely gave us better odds of making it. It’s all part of the reason we made it. … So, it felt weird that he’s not there with us.”
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