It’s not about what was accomplished, it’s about who did it. And for those who don’t imagine that, this week might be a sports activities debate-off on the occasions from the ultimate day of the NBA’s common season — which included Minnesota Timberwolves star heart Rudy Gobert taking a swing at teammate Kyle Anderson on the bench throughout a timeout.
And since we’re supposedly a “fair” society, it signifies that Gobert ought to obtain more backlash than Draymond Green did within the preseason after we watched him drop his teammate Jordan Poole with a punch in a leaked video from the Golden State Warriors follow facility.
The act was the identical — a punch. The location was, too — a basketball court docket. In each instances, the “attacker” and the “victim” had been teammates. However, one was behind closed doorways earlier than the season, making it personal. The different was in the course of a sport earlier than the postseason begins, making it public.
But, no one goes to care about that.
Why?
Because for many — not all — it’s quite a bit simpler to dislike Green than it’s to get upset over one thing Gobert did, regardless of him as soon as being the rationale why the NBA shut down.
According to the sources, Kyle Anderson advised Gobert to “Shut the fuck up, bitch.” Gobert swung and missed. Teammates separated the 2. And within the locker room, Anderson advised Gobert, “I’ll knock your ass out.” The crew then despatched Gobert dwelling, which was adopted by an apology from Gobert to his teammates in personal and a public one to followers.
“Emotions got the best of me today. I should not have reacted the way i did regardless of what was said. I wanna apologize to the fans, the organisation and particularly to Kyle, who is someone that i truly love and respect as a teammate,” Gobert tweeted.
Oddly sufficient, Gobert had just said this about Anderson before “the fight”:
“Kyle wants to win, and sometimes he’s a little aggressive in the way he talks, but I don’t take it personally,” Gobert mentioned. “I receive it in a positive way because it comes from a place of wanting me to be the best Rudy I can be and wanting us to win. I love his competitiveness, love the way he plays the game. The way he makes others around him better. He’s been a huge part of this year.”
It was the proper concoction of irony and hypocrisy, on condition that Gobert tweeted “Insecurity is always loud” when the video of Green and Poole leaked, taking a refined shot at Green. However, the counterpunch from Green landed completely, as he tweeted the identical phrase after Gobert’s swing failed to attach.
When the footage of Green and Poole leaked it grew to become clear that followers, the media, and even former gamers had someway forgotten that teammates fighting amongst themselves in follow had been taking place for many years. But, this was the primary time we’d ever seen it. And Ray Rice taught us that whenever you get caught on video, it adjustments every little thing. (I’m not posting the hyperlink to that video. Google is free.)
Well, six months later, we’re again in the identical place. Except for this time it occurred in a sport, and the punch didn’t land.
So, what’s the conclusion?
That this was by no means about if punching a teammate was unsuitable or proper. It’s at all times been a case examine on how a lot individuals don’t like Draymond Green. Because if this was actually about “fairness,” then Rudy Gobert would obtain the identical backlash or more than Green. That received’t be the case, although. Rudy Gobert can’t battle and Draymond Green can. It’s so simple as that. And in conditions like this, the individual “with hands” tends to return out because the dangerous man. If you don’t imagine me, simply ask Will Smith.
Discussion about this post