"It's crap. It's crap. It's not fair. It's really not fair, "hammered Gobert, very recovered Thursday night after the loss of Minnesota in Phoenix (107-100), marked by a disparity of free throws allowed (27 for the Suns against 12).

"It's like that every night. I've been in this league for ten years and I always try to give the benefit of the doubt, but it's hard for me to think they didn't try to help them win tonight. I can't believe they didn't try to help the Warriors win the other night or the Kings," he said.

"It's so obvious. As a basketball player who has been playing in this league for so long, it's a lack of respect," insisted the one who was named best defender of the championship three times (2018, 2019, 2021), when he played in Utah.

"We work so hard to be able to compete with the best and we get screwed in those situations that have too big an impact on the other team's play. They know how to do it. They do it in different ways. Tonight, it was another way to do it, "said Gobert, sanctioned by five fouls against the Suns, including two offensives on screens deemed illegal, at the very end of the game, which annihilated as many possessions of his team to stick to the score.

"It's also a business"

For the French silver medalist at the Tokyo Games with the Blues in 2021, Minnesota, where he committed last summer, is one of those supposed small teams, penalized against the big, such as the Lakers of LeBron James, the Warriors of Stephen Curry or the Suns of Kevin Durant.

Rudy Gobert (l) against the Kings, March 27, 2023 in Sacramento © EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives

"We understand that this is also a business. We are aware that we are not one of the biggest markets in the NBA, and that we want to see "KD" in the playoffs, Steph, LeBron... The Wolves are not there yet. We have to keep moving forward, to play despite that, and it's frustrating, especially for me," he said.

Currently the Wolves are 7th in the Western Conference, not far behind Golden State which occupies the 6th place, the last directly qualifying for the playoffs. They are therefore barragists, as well as the Lakers they are just ahead of them.

"Gobzilla" is far from the first to severely criticize the referees, since Toronto point guard Fred VanVleet or Phoenix coach Monty Williams have not hesitated to do so in recent days. And like them, he should reap a fine because the North American basketball league punishes any criticism made publicly of officials.

© 2023 AFP