Draymond Green trolls Rudy Gobert after punch

If you go after the Golden State Warriors online, you have to know they’re going to keep the receipts. That’s what happened Sunday, when the Minnesota Timberwolves sent Rudy Gobert home after he took a swing at Kyle Anderson during a timeout.

Reportedly, the Timberwolves were having an argument about defense, and the internet’s lip readers are convinced Anderson called Gobert Too $hort’s favorite word. But when Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole in practice during the preseason, Gobert had a tweet for his perpetual Defensive Player of the Year rival.

Like the North, Draymond Green remembers.

He waited six months, but Draymond hit Gobert with a chasedown block of a social media diss. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and ideally with screenshots.

Just like Jaren Jackson Jr. learned last year, the Warriors hear everything, they see everything, and they keep receipts. Jackson tweeted “Strength in numbers” after the Grizzlies beat the shorthanded Warriors last March. Twelve weeks later, Klay Thompson took time out of his post-championship press conference to single Jackson out, and call him a “freakin’ clown.”

It’s how the Warriors have done things for years. When Steph Curry had a bad first half, he used to read critical tweets at halftime to motivate himself. When Josh Duhamel called Draymond a “prick” for laughing at his wife Fergie’s All-Star Game national anthem, the Warriors found a remix of the song, and posted a video of themselves dancing to it in the locker room.

And while Draymond probably lost some goodwill in the locker room when he punched Poole, Gobert has lost goodwill with every teammate he ever played with. A source familiar with the Utah Jazz said last year’s team had cliques: “Rudy Gobert, and everyone else.” He definitely pissed off his teammates - and a lot of reporters - when he intentionally touched all the microphones in the press room, while positive for Covid-19.

And based on a video of Anderson after the incident, captured by a team employee, the Wolves are already sick of the organization “kissing his ass.”

It might not be a great sign for Gobert’s impact on winning that the Timberwolves were +17 after sending him home for the night. They ended up winning, and will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the 7 vs. 8 play-in game Tuesday night. It’s a revenge matchup between old Wolves D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt, and between any player in the league and Rudy Gobert.

Still, Gobert got off easy from Green, because what he retweeted right after the passive-aggressive Draymond slam is far more embarrassing.

Rudy Gobert is a giant dork, and he’s trying to drag Karl-Anthony Towns down with him. The Timberwolves traded five first-round picks for Gobert, and everyone already hates him. What an incredible player.

Lakers by 15.