On Sunday afternoon, the Minnesota Timberwolves suffered their fourth consecutive loss with a road loss at the hands of the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Although the Timberwolves led at halftime and controlled things well in the third quarter, things quickly fell apart from there, as Anthony Edwards struggled during a relatively quiet scoring night.
It was a particularly brutal game for Timberwolves big man Rudy Gobert, who scored just two points and grabbed seven rebounds, finishing the night with a -23 in the box score.
Needless to say, fans on X, formerly Twitter, were having a blast at the much-maligned big man's expense.
"gobert The most hilarious player on offense, straight up idol,” one fan wrote.
"Rudy gobert Not good offensively, he's all over the place,” added another.
However, other users came to Gobert's defense amid the harsh performance.
"I find it ridiculous how much Wolves fans hate gobert And want to kick him out of their team but that's why they struggle every year. Without him they have zero security,” one fan said.
In fact, Gobert is a double-edged sword for Minnesota at times, as he is the obvious anchor of their defensive unit and consistently makes up for other players' shortcomings on that end of the field, but generally offers nothing from an offensive skills perspective.
Some of Gobert's notable mistakes over the years, as well as his frequent bullying from former players like Shaquille O'Neal, have made him an easy target for internet trolls looking to increase social media engagement.
However, there is certainly some validity to the notion that Gobert's lack of offensive skills could present a major challenge for the Timberwolves, especially against elite teams like Oklahoma City.
