Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert facing another suspension for flagrant fouls

For the second time this season, Rudy Gobert won’t be in the arena as the Timberwolves play a game.

That’s because Gobert is facing his second one-game suspension for accruing too many flagrant foul points, after committing another flagrant in the team’s victory over Dallas on Friday, Feb. 20.

Gobert’s arm made an “unnecessary flail,” officials said, and connected with the head and neck of Mavericks center Marvin Bagley III. After calling it a personal foul on the floor, officials reviewed it and upgraded it to a flagrant-1.

That now gives Gobert seven flagrant foul points on the season, triggering another one-game suspension. Gobert previously missed the team’s victory over the Bucks on Jan. 13. Gobert has committed six flagrant fouls on the season for a total of seven points (five flagrant-1s and one flagrant-2).

He’ll have to sit out Sunday’s game against Philadelphia.

“You know what? The thing with that is that I get hit in the head almost every game, and I never get flagrants,” Gobert said after the victory over Dallas. “But when, sometimes, inadvertently, I hit somebody in the head, they never miss. They’re always very hard on me with that, especially when it’s not intentional. So we’re going to appeal it. Hopefully they’ll look at it and they’ll see that it was just an accident.”

The league had not ruled on the appeal as of Saturday afternoon. Assuming it holds up, this will be the final time Gobert will get a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul. After this, he will face a two-game suspension for the rest of the season for each infraction. Gobert said he feels like only “one or two” of the six fouls were legitimate calls; for the others, he felt players do the same things to him.

“But it’s really hard when you get super penalized, and people can do anything without accountability on me. So hopefully they look at that and make it a little more fair.”

Coach Chris Finch said this most recent flagrant against Gobert was “a bit harsh,” and came to the defense of his big man.

“It looked like two guys tying up, and sometimes that happens,” Finch said. “Seemingly every time Rudy gets clocked in the head and the face, which is quite a bit, it’s always just, ‘Ah, that’s just two guys, play on. It’s nothing.’ But yet, the other way around, we seem to be penalized for it.”