Skip Bayless: Rudy Gobert Didn't Punch Kyle Anderson, He Sent a Message

On Tuesday, Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe weighed in on the latest development in the Rudy Gobert-Kyle Anderson punch saga. Gobert was suspended by the Minnesota Timberwolves for their play-in game against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight, a monumental decision for the team's most important game of the year (accompanied by the funniest tweet Adrian Wojnarowski will ever send). Bayless and Sharpe, who downplayed how significant they felt the beef between Gobert and Anderson was yesterday, do not think this suspension is justified.

During Bayless' explanation of why he feels that way, he ended up going down a bit of a rabbit hole about whether or not Gobert *really* punched Anderson. The Fox Sports personality declared that the big center did not, in fact, actually punch his teammate and instead was just sending a message in the form of an "open hand shove."

Technically speaking Bayless is probably right and everybody ran with the punch headline because it looked like he straight-up punched his teammate. But it is definitely not a good sign that Gobert has entered into the territory where high-profile media personalities are splitting hairs over the definition of a punch. Certainly not what he and the Wolves were hoping to be the discussion heading into the postseason.

As for the message aspect, well... Who knows if it was received. Guess we'll find out the next time Anderson and Gobert are on the court together!