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DALLAS — Rudy Gobert said he had a choice to make on Monday during Utah's loss to the Dallas Maverick: engage or move on as if nothing had happened?
No, he wasn't referring to the end-of-first-half squabble that ended with Royce O'Neale and Luka Doncic having to be separated. Gobert did help start it when he tossed the ball to Doncic after stopping his drive to end the half, which led Doncic to throw it back at him. O'Neale intercepted the ball and shared some words with Doncic, who picked up a technical for his actions.
"I saw it on the video," Gobert said of that interaction. "I mean, it's just emotions; it's basketball. Europeans, we play with a lot of emotions; it's part of the game."
Gobert stops Luka at the buzzer. Gobert flips the ball to Luka. Luka doesn't like that. He tosses it back. Royce O'Neale doesn't like that. Neither does Gobert. Words are exchanged. Luka also signaled "come here" to Gobert later but Gobert did not do it. pic.twitter.com/vhuhRjPJFL
— Bobby Karalla (@bobbykaralla) March 8, 2022
And he wasn't referring to the hilariously blatant flop by Doncic in the third quarter where he acted like Gobert elbowed him down to the ground in order to get the French center ejected from the game with a second technical.
"He whispered something in my ear and tried to bait me into getting mad," Gobert said. "I knew what he was trying to do, so I just tried to run back on offense. He was there in my way and kind of tripped. I guess it's also part of the game."
Luka was heated at Gobert after this play 😅 pic.twitter.com/lajRjbHlyZ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 8, 2022
As Gobert said, those plays, for better or worse, are part of the game. And Monday showed that the matchup could be a deliciously spicy first-round series. Gamesmanship, skirmishes and emotions running high? That was all no problem for Gobert.
His issues came from the stuff coming from outside the court. Gobert called out the Mavericks' bench for repeatedly saying things he considered to be disrespectful.
Should he talk back and likely be penalized or ignore them? That was the choice he said he faced.
"Yeah, there was a lot of things being said out there. At some point, we're men, too," he said. "For me and for my team, I've just got to keep my mind in the right place. My team needs me in the game. But, at the same time, it's like when you've got guys on the bench that don't play and just keep talking and saying some stuff — officials can hear and they don't do anything. As a man it's like, Is it worth being suspended? And we shouldn't have to ask ourselves that question.
"I think they've just got to do a better job of keeping that in check," Gobert continued. "It's actions, but the words carry weight, so if someone is disrespecting you, at that point as men we ask ourself: stay on the court and not penalize our team or, do we want to stand up for ourselves?"
When asked if any of the things that were said from the Mavericks bench crossed the line, Gobert said he didn't believe any of them would have been said outside of a basketball court.
"I'm not perfect, but I don't say things to guys on the court that I wouldn't tell to their face outside the locker room," he said.
As for the on-court stuff with Doncic, Gobert was able to laugh those off. When he was asked about Doncic's flop he immediately chuckled.
And, so did Doncic.
"I thought it was worse," the Mavericks star said. "Then when I saw it, it was nothing. We were all laughing on the bench."
