After dispatching the Dallas Mavericks 105-100 on Tuesday in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, the Minnesota Timberwolves did something unusual. The team made none of its star players available afterward for Inside the NBA, TNT's venerable postgame show.
According to a Friday report from Shams Charania and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, there was a reason for that. It had to do with Golden State Warriors forward-turned-TV provocateur Draymond Green.
"(The Timberwolves had) such strong chemistry that it decided as a group that no player would appear on TNT’s Inside the NBA postgame show after their victory in Game 4 in Dallas, team sources told The Athletic," Charania and Krawczynski wrote. "The decision was a sign of support for (center Rudy) Gobert and (forward Karl-Anthony) Towns, who were the subject of derisive and seemingly personal criticism from panelist and Golden State forward Draymond Green."
Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves chose not to participate in "Inside The NBA" interviews, standing in solidarity with Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert against criticism from Draymond Green, per @TheAthletic
“Edwards was surrounded by a tight-knit team, one with such… pic.twitter.com/peFvv5rHEK
Green attracted criticism throughout his TV run for his attitude toward Gobert in particular.
"Rudy sucks, not me! What did I do? I didn't do anything!" Green told Mavericks fans heckling him at one point.
Earlier this year, the NBA suspended Green indefinitely after he put Gobert in a headlock during a 104-101 Warriors loss in November.
PATRICK ANDRES
