At some point in the next 24 hours, the NBA will impose a one-game suspension on Minnesota center Rudy Gobert for hitting Dallas player Marvin Bagley III in the head and neck on Friday night, his seventh flagrant foul of the season.
The NBA imposes a one-game suspension on any player who commits six flagrant fouls in a season, plus one game for each subsequent foul. This will be Gobert’s second one-game suspension for a flagrant foul this season, his first since picking up his sixth flagrant foul (a reckless finish on fellow Frenchman Victor Wembanyama).
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The suspension will cost Gobert $201,149 in salary (the Timberwolves will receive half of that as a luxury tax credit).
After the game, Gobert expresses frustration These appeals against him go in only one direction.
“I get hit in the head almost every game, but I’ve never been malicious, but sometimes when I hit someone in the head by accident, they never miss,” Gobert said in the Timberwolves locker room. “They’ve always been really hard on me, even if it wasn’t intentional. So, we’re going to appeal and hopefully they see it was just an accident. We’ll see. Just because I’m 7 feet tall, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when I get hit in the head. I’m close to superhuman, but I’m not.”
Gobert is averaging 11.2 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game and will likely finish in the top three in Defensive Player of the Year voting at the end of the season. When he’s not on the floor this season, Minnesota’s defense is down 8.8 points per 100 possessions.
