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Rudy Gobert Doesn’t Hold Back on Facing Draymond Green in 2nd Round

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated May 6, 2025 2:15 PM ET

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors play each other in the second round of the playoffs, which means NBA fans get to see Rudy Gobert face Draymond Green.

Gobert and Green have history. Green once made fun of Gobert for crying after not making the All-Star team. Green also put Gobert in a headlock last season after Klay Thompson got into a scuffle with Jaden McDaniels.

Game 1 between the Timberwolves and Warriors is on Monday in Minnesota. After the shootaround, Gobert was asked by reporters about facing Green, and the four-time Defensive Player of the Year didn't hold back.

Rudy Gobert on the prospect of going up against Draymond Green this series: “I enjoy it. He’s a fierce competitor … and so am I” pic.twitter.com/Bs8rwAEeyf
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 6, 2025

There are so many storylines in this series. Green going against Gobert; Butler facing his former team; Curry facing Team USA co-star Anthony Edwards.

This series looks to have the ingredients of being an all-time postseason matchup.

The Timberwolves went 1-3 against the Warriors in the regular season. Gobert averaged 11.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 69.6% from the field in the four games.

Gobert and Co. have a home-court advantage in the Warriors series. However, Golden State won two games in Houston in the first round, proving that the team has no issues winning in hostile environments.

It will be fascinating to see if Gobert and Green get into any scuffles in this series. Green picked up technical fouls in the Rockets series. The four-time champion has a history of getting into it with players and refs.

The Timberwolves are looking to reach the Western Conference Finals for the second straight year. They lost to the Dallas Mavericks last year in five games.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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