Gilbert Arenas on Rudy Gobert missing Game 2 because of the birth of his first child:
“It’s a baby, bro, it’s going to be there when you get back...we hope. Whatever you think you ‘bout to do with the baby, he gonna be asleep. Yeah, you need that ‘skin-to-skin'...in two days. I get you want to be with your wife and smiling and stuff, and you’ll get NBA health care insurance; it’s because of you playing.”
Watch former NBA All-Star turned outspoken podcaster Gilbert Arenas rip Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert for missing Monday’s Game 2 playoff game versus the Denver Nuggets because of the birth of his first child.
Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said Gobert tried to get there for the 10pm ET tip-off but was unable to make the flight because of heavy wind delays Monday night in the Denver area.
The Timberwolves would end up destroying the Nuggets 106-80 to grab a 2-0 series, but Arenas took exception to the three-time Defensive Player of the Year missing one of the most important games in the franchise’s history, saying why not play in Game 2 and return to be with his family afterwords.
Their conference semifinals series with Denver is the furthest the Wolves have advanced in the playoffs since 2004, as their first-round sweep of the Phoenix Suns was just the second time Minnesota had ever gotten out of the first round.
That 2004 team finished 58-24 and was the top seed in the Western Conference led by Kevin Garnett, Sam Cassell, Latrell Sprewell, and Wally Szczerbiak, but was beaten in six games in the Western Conference Finals to the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal-led Lakers, who would later lose in the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons.
A Wolves core of Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Gobert has Wolves fans suddenly dreaming of their first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history, but went into Game 2 as 7.5-point underdogs without one of the most elite defensive players of the decade on the floor.
When asked before the playoffs if Gobert would consider missing a playoff game because of his child being born, he swiftly responded with ‘I don't think there's any debate to have... I think all the guys will literally tell me, don't play.' Arenas didn't feel the same way, saying 'It’s a baby, bro, it’s going to be there when you get back.'
Major League Baseball is currently the only major American sports league [MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL] that offers an official paternity leave policy, as players can miss up to three games to be with their families after the birth of their child.
The Timberwolves don't play again until Friday night, and will be heading back to Minneapolis looking to take a commanding 3-0 series lead vs. the defending champion Nuggets.
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