Rudy Gobert Goes Off On Officials After Avoiding Nasty Elbow

Basketball is one of the fastest games in the world so sometimes, things can be a blur. The heat of the moment can get players into some compromising positions and the referees have to make sure they catch on to every single thing that goes on. Last night, the Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors had a perfect example of this. During the Raptors win, OG Anunoby of Toronto was in transition and tangled up with Rudy Gobert of the Jazz. Seemingly out of nowhere, Anunoby threw an elbow in Gobert’s direction although it didn’t land.

Following the incident, Anunoby and Gobert were both ejected from the game. Gobert was extremely upset by it all and ended up complaining about it after the game. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Gobert felt as though the ref failed at protecting him. In fact, Gobert says he might take matters into his own hands next time.

“(OG Anunoby) tried to elbow me in the face. And the guy who’s getting paid to protect the players didn’t do his job,” Gobert said. “We both got ejected when I didn’t do anything back, which I don’t understand. Next time I’ll do justice myself so (they) can eject me for a reason.” 

While Gobert’s frustration is warranted, there is little he can actually do about the situation. Referees can’t just reverse calls on a whim and no matter how much you yell at them, it’s not going to make a difference.