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SALT LAKE CITY — Rudy Gobert felt disrespected.
Following the Mavericks' 111-103 win over the Jazz on March 7, Gobert directed some words to the Dallas bench in response to comments he felt had crossed the line.
"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," Gobert said after the game. "As a man, it's like, is it worth being suspended? And we shouldn't have to ask ourselves that question."
Even at that time, the teams appeared to be on their way to a playoff matchup against each other. And all the extracurricular stuff that went on that night — a minor dustup, Luka Doncic trying to get Gobert tossed along with a blatant flop, Gobert's pointed post-game remarks — looked to be setting up a deliciously spicy postseason series.
On Wednesday, though, Gobert turned down the heat. When he was asked about his past comments, he smiled in a way that made it clear that he wasn't going to start any beef early.
"It's part of the game," Gobert said, downplaying the situation. "At the moment, I was talking about it. But it's part of the game and teams are gonna do anything they can to try and disrupt your game, so it's part of it."
But a part the Mavericks sound awfully excited about. Gobert didn't name any names when he was talking about the Mavs bench, but the guilty parties knew. And, yes, they were proud, especially since what Gobert called disrespectful, Dallas reserve Theo Pinson thought was light-hearted banter.
"We didn't even say nothing crazy," Pinson told the Locked on Mavericks podcast last month when asked about the exchange. "He did a hook shot and it hit Jerry West (the NBA logo) on the backboard. We was like, 'Woah, what was that?' I promise you, we didn't say anything crazy to that man. Nothing. I think it got in his head that we were like, 'What was that?'
"We had him for the rest of the game," Pinson added. "He was done. It was over then. We was like, 'Bro, you hit Jerry West. What did he do to you?'"
Pinson, who appeared in only 19 games this year for Dallas, likely won't play a key role in the series — at least not on the court. But from his front-row seat, he's planning on chirping and chirping and chirping; it's a role he's embraced. And as the game back in early March showed, he may still be able to have an impact.
Most of the Jazz should be pretty familiar with lively trash talkers after having played with Joe Ingles for so many years.
Gobert said Hassan Whiteside has a bit of the heckling gene that allows him to get under opponents skin. But, for the most part, Gobert doesn't think the team needs to get caught up in answering to Pinson's or anyone else's remarks.
"I don't want us to necessarily be talkers," Gobert said. "I want us to let our physicality, our game, the way we play, the chip that we have on our shoulder define who we are. Some guys like to talk, some guys would rather not talk. But I think no matter what happens, the most important thing is for us to stay focused and to stay together and don't let anything distract us."
He's already gotten a good start at doing that. On Wednesday, Mavericks guard Dorian Finney-Smith said he hopes Gobert switches on to him over the course of the series.
"Then I know I'm probably going to get a bunch of threes," Finney-Smith said. "I hope he guards me so I can get some shots."
When Gobert was informed of the not-so-veiled slight, he smiled. He's heard that all too much; he saw no reason to fire back.
"It's part of the game," he said. "Focus on doing what the game needs."
