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“Lost on Purpose?”: After Losing to LeBron James’ Lakers, 3x All-Star Leaves NBA Twitter in Frenzy With a Bold Statement

Published 04/01/2023, 8:50 AM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

The Los Angeles Lakers recently won their second consecutive away game on Friday night. After exacting revenge over the Chicago Bulls following their 108-118 loss, the Lakers went up against the Minnesota Timberwolves to claim their 39th win of the season. Lakers nation erupted in cheers after Anthony Davis and LeBron James led the team to victory. However, it seems like part of the credit behind the Lakers’ win belonged to a particular Timberwolves star, at least, that’s how he felt.

LA trailed behind the Timberwolves in the first half of the game. They eventually erased the 10-point deficit after halftime and won the game by scoring 123 against Minnesota’s 111. The Lakers are currently the No. 7 seed in Western Conference.

NBA center let LeBron James’ Lakers win out of pity?

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After the disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert had quite a few interesting insights to give on the Lakers’ win. Anthony Davis was the star of the Friday night game as he dropped a game-high 38 points and 17 rebounds against the Timberwolves. However, according to Gobert, this was only possible because he went easy on AD. The Lakers center sprained his ankle in the third quarter but managed to remain on the court for the rest of the game.

As per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Gobert stated that he refrained from making a dunk shot when he saw Davis lying on the floor in pain because he felt that it was ‘ruthless’. He added that the game turned in the Lakers’ favor after that particular moment.

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According to the tweet dropped by Krawczynski, Gobert’s exact words were, “I had the ball in my hands and I couldve went and dunked it, but AD was laying there. So I was like, that’s too ruthless, I’ll just pass it out. After that it was just turnover after turnover. It was just a tough stretch.”

Twitterati scoffs at Gobert’s statement

NBA fans found it rather hard to believe the 3x All-Star’s comments. Soon after Rudy Gobert’s statement was released online, Twitterati dropped sarcastic comments to mock the Timberwolves star. One fan questioned, “So he felt bad and just lost on purpose..? Like what does this mean.” Whereas, another user wrote, “this guy is such a joke LMAOOOOOO.”

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Below are a few more of the comments.

Several fans also dropped GIFs that expressed their annoyance and disbelief toward Gobert’s surprising response.

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LeBron James scored 18 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in his third game after the 4x NBA champion took a month-long break due to injury. On the other hand, Rudy Gobert scored 14 points and 11 rebounds in the losing game.

What do you make of Gobert’s comments on LBJ and the Lakers? Are fans right in dismissing him? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Siyari Debbarma

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Siyari Debbarma is an NBA writer for EssentiallySports. She is currently pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering and previously interned at the Y-East Organization as a content writer. Siyari has played quite a bit of basketball throughout her school years, and started following the NBA last year.
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Edited by:

Aayush Kapoor