Gobert slams teammates for 'unacceptable' effort

Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert called out his team’s lack of effort after Friday night’s loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, something coach Chris Finch said was addressed Saturday.

The Timberwolves led Friday’s game by as many as 18 points early in the third quarter but saw that lead evaporate midway through the fourth en route to a 119-115 loss to the 14th-place Pelicans.

“At some point, if the players don’t have accountability, someone has to have accountability for the players,” Gobert told reporters after the game. “I’m on straight effort. I’m just talking straight effort. I’m not even getting to the basketball side of things, like … mistakes are a part of the game, but the effort to me for a team that wants to play for a championship, it’s unacceptable.”

Gobert, who finished the game with 12 points and 16 rebounds, went as far as to say the coaching staff might need to bench certain players who are not giving enough effort.

“It’s not an easy position for a coach to take guys out of the game,” he said, without directly naming any players. “It’s not something that you want to do, but I think if the players don’t show any effort, at some point, no matter how talented we are as a team, if you don’t have that, you just can’t be a winning team.”

Ahead of Saturday’s matchup with the LA Clippers, Finch said he was aware of the comments but argued the team observes a “high degree of accountability.”

“I handle all my conversations with ourselves in house,” Finch said. “Disappointing [Gobert] felt the need to go outside. Nonetheless, that’s been addressed already today. There’s never been a team that’s won anything meaningful that substituted their way there.”

The loss dropped the Timberwolves to 32-21, tied in the loss column with the Phoenix Suns for the 6-seed in the Western Conference.