Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert to serve 1-game suspension against Bucks, triggered by flagrant foul total

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert must serve a one-game suspension due to the number of flagrant fouls he has accumulated this season.

The NBA announced that Gobert will sit out on Tuesday when the Timberwolves visit the Milwaukee Bucks. They'll also be without star guard Anthony Edwards, who was ruled out for maintenance of a right foot injury that kept him out of three games last month.

Gobert, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year award winner, was called for a level 1 flagrant foul during the fourth quarter of Minnesota's 104-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, when he aggressively closed out against Victor Wembanyama behind the 3-point line.

The game officials ruled that Gobert impeded Wembanyama's ability to safely land on the follow-through from his jump shot, giving him six flagrant foul points for the season. League rules dictate an automatic suspension after a game in which a player's flagrant foul point total exceeds five.

“It’s tough, because I try to be aggressive contesting shots in the heat of the moment,” Gobert said after the game on Sunday. “I don’t think there’s, at any time, any intention of getting anybody hurt or putting people in dangerous situations.”

Level 1 calls are worth one point, and Level 2 calls for more severe and intentional contact are worth two points. Gobert will be vulnerable to further punishment, too. Another level 1 flagrant foul call on him during the regular season would prompt an automatic one-game suspension, or a two-game ban for a level 2 call. Beyond that, either level of flagrant foul once a player hits seven points triggers an automatic two-game suspension.

“As long as they keep calling flagrants when I get hit in the back of the head, which happens every night, I’m cool with it,” Gobert said. "Protecting the players I think is important, but let’s protect all the players.”

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