There were no points on the board yet when all of this mayhem erupted during last night's Golden State Warriors vs. Minnesota Timberwolves rematch. Just two minutes had passed when Klay Thompson got tangled up with Jaden McDaniels in transition. There was a chorus of whistles. Jerseys were ripped. Draymond Green, Jaden McDaniels, and Klay Thompson were all ejected.
Via ClutchPoints:
THINGS GETTING CHIPPY BETWEEN THE WARRIORS AND THE TIMBERWOLVES ALREADY 😱
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 15, 2023
Draymond Green had Rudy Gobert in a chokehold 😳pic.twitter.com/GRqleoD3e7
Although Klay rarely gets into these scuffles, Draymond Green often spats with opposing players. With that said, witnessing Draymond Green drag a 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert off of Klay Thompson by the neck is something I never thought I'd see on a basketball court. Because of this, NBA Twitter was awash with excitement and memes.
My personal favorite, via DragonflyJonez on Twitter:
This is insane but Draymond tucking his chin when KAT tried to put *him* in a chokehold is killing me 😭. That man said he ain't new to this he true to this https://t.co/53PrVEHpFC
— 🐧✨America Is Musty✨🐧 (@DragonflyJonez) November 15, 2023
But he wasn't the only one getting some jokes off and having fun with the shenanigans.
*Draymond chokes Gobert*
— Hot Tunes TV China NBA (@HTTCNBA) November 15, 2023
Warriors announcers: “LMAOOOO that’s just dray man you gotta love him”
*Gobert legally blocks shot*
Warriors announcers: “Remember when he looked so gay when he cried. We used to kill the French in this country.”
Y'all complaining about this?
— Jesse Blanchard (@blanchardJRB) November 15, 2023
Man, y'all don't understand physics.
This is just Draymond's natural shot motion and follow-through. https://t.co/HDlzfT52UH
Here's what Gobert had to say about the ordeal after the game.
Gobert referred to Green's actions as "clown behavior" multiple times after the game 😳 pic.twitter.com/bWm6bzDuWv
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 15, 2023
Coach Kerr came to both of his players defense after the game. Kerr said, There's no way Klay Thompson should've been thrown out of the game." Kerr continued, "The Draymond piece of it, if you watch the replay, Rudy had his hands on Klays neck and that's why Draymond went after Rudy."
Twitter user JohnBrisker2021 put together a nice slow motion edit, where you can see Gobert making definite contact with Thompson's neck. However, was this malicious? It seems Gobert came to McDaniels' defense just as Green came to Thompson's. Gobert even said after the game that he kept his hands up the whole time in order to show the officials that he wasn’t trying to escalate the situation.
Via JohnBrisker2021:
@redapples pic.twitter.com/SnNUP0FuWT
— John Brisker (@JohnBrisker2021) November 15, 2023
After the game, Karl Anthony Towns said:
"Shoutout to the Minnesota Wild, it was like a hockey game to start the game. But, we just found a way to stay composed. It was a mature win. They tried to rattle us. They tried to get us off our game. We did a great job of sticking to our game plan throughout the game and found a way to win."
Remember, this was a revenge game for Golden State, who have now lost four straight games, including three at home and two back-to-back against the Timberwolves. As a side note, Minnesota has won seven straight games, their longest win streak since 2004.