There's no secret that if there's anyone Draymond Green would point to as his most disliked peer in the NBA, it will be Rudy Gobert. Green, as one of the most vocal players in the association, has a history of schadenfreude when it comes to the Minnesota Timberwolves big man. Thus, it's no surprise that here the Golden State Warriors forward is again, laughing at the fact that France benched Gobert in their quarterfinals clash against Canada in the 2024 Paris Olympics — and won.
Speaking on his eponymous podcast, Green expressed his disbelief over the fact that a player of Gobert's caliber would end up riding the pine in a must-win game for a nation not named the United States of America — leading to that team's success in the process, with France now slated to play against Germany in the semifinals of the Olympics after a rousing 82-73 win over Canada.
“In the three minutes that Rudy checked in, Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] started going off. Wemby had a rough night, but coach said I can't have both of my bigs not playing great. You decide who got to go. I know who I'd pick… To be taken out of the lineup on any other team in the Olympics as an NBA player, not named Team USA is kind of crazy,” Green said.
Draymond Green notoriously drew the ire of Timberwolves fans in the playoffs after he continued to be Rudy Gobert's harshest critic. So for him to chime in on France's decision to bench Rudy Gobert is no surprise, and is, in fact, expected.
France glues Rudy Gobert to the bench, scores upset win over Canada
It hasn't been the best showing thus far for the French national basketball team in the 2024 Paris Olympics. It looks like it was going to be an uphill battle for them to come close to their silver medal finish in Tokyo in 2021, especially when Evan Fournier went out of his way to say that the offense his team was running was outdated.
While France head coach Vincent Collet did not take too kindly to Fournier's remarks, he certainly took into account what his veteran guard had to say. France had been starting Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama together, and the lane has been congested as a result. With FIBA rules giving a boost to defenses (shorter rotations, no defensive three-second violation), France's toilet was akin to that of a clogged toilet.
But the twists and turns keep on coming for France. Draymond Green gave a good summary of the confusion regarding Rudy Gobert's benching against Canada.
“France had a very interesting plot twist going on. Rudy Gobert said he had surgery or something. France's coach said he thought the matchups was an issue. Rudy did not start because of the matchups. We don't know what's true. I don't think we have any reason to believe that Rudy's lying except for the coach saying it was for matchups,” Green said.
Perhaps Rudy Gobert did get that surgery and Vincent Collet decided that he was not going to play Gobert to match up better against Canada. Both things can be true. Given their success with Gobert playing just three minutes, however, will they resort to similar tactics against the reigning FIBA World Cup champion?
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