It’s Day 1 of the 2024 Paris Olympics, and things are heating up in a major way! It was only a couple of hours ago when three separate scuffles broke out during a basketball matchup between Australia and Spain, while Germany later secured a major win against Japan. Now, with France going up against Brazil, star player Rudy Gobert has gotten himself embarrassed at a level that would certainly bring a smile to Draymond Green’s face.

With 5:58 left in the first quarter, Brazil had an early lead with a 10-5 score. An addition to the lead seemed imminent once the ball returned to the possession of #45 Mãozinha Pereira. Just as he attempted to dunk the ball, however, Rudy Gobert leaped alongside him in an attempt to defend. As a result, the French star unintentionally got pushed by his rival and was sent down to the floor. Fortunately, the incident did not turn into a physical altercation between the two rivals as it did during the Australia-Spain matchup, and the game continued.

Having been in the NBA for over 11 years, the French player has been involved in his share of unintentional physical hits. However, there have also been instances when the player has allegedly gotten involved in some serious altercations. Back in April 2023, he made headlines after hitting Kyle Anderson, his own teammate, with a punch during a timeout period. The action caused him to be “escorted to the back”, after which the player was not seen again for the duration of the game.

A year later, during a matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, he was seen hitting the stomach just as the ball was in the possession of lead rival scorer Luka Doncic. Despite this, Gobert’s alleged actions did not turn out to be enough to warrant a flagrant foul.

The NBA world has many fans of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise. However, not everyone may hold the same liking towards the 4x Defensive Player of the Year recipient. If any evidence was needed, all one needed to do was head to social media and check the reactions from the recent incident.

Fans react as Rudy Gobert gets embarrassed by the unintentional hit

It didn’t take long for Gobert’s fall to make the rounds on the internet. One viewer found it amusing that Gobert ended up on the receiving end of the physical clash, commenting, “Rudy Gobert just got punched, haha.” If the “haha” he put up wasn’t a reflection of his true feelings, then what else can be?

Mãozinha Pereira’s actions were not intentional, nor can they be clearly stated as a ‘punch’. However, by placing emphasis on that word, longtime NBA fans would have been easily reminded of the scuffle between Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson.

Another social media user highlighted that the 4x Defensive Player of the Year recipient got on a poster within the first five minutes of the game. To him, this constituted the sign of a good Olympic game.

Being on the defensive end, Rudy Gobert is quite susceptible to seeing offensive players attempting to drop a slam dunk right over him. In more than a few instances, the player is unable to prevent the ball from going through the hoop. Several such instances came up during the recent NBA season as well, with the most memorable one being the poster dunk that Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown performed back in November. Two months later, despite his efforts in keeping the Memphis Grizzles on the side, Jaren Jackson Jr. was still able to dunk one over the player and earn the respect of a few fans at Minnesota’s Target Center.

One viewer did not shy away from making his criticism about Rudy Gobert known. If the poster dunk was anything to the commenter, then it seemed to be proof that he was looking to call the player “trash” on an international level.

If one were to look at the French player’s international record, it would be considered the opposite of ‘trash’. In his 13-year journey of representing France, Rudy Gobert has helped secure a silver Olympic medal, two bronze medals from the FIBA World Cup tournaments, and two medals from the EuroBasket series. During the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Gobert averaged 12.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. While France was unsuccessful in the final game against the USA, he still managed to put out a commendable offensive effort with 16 points, going 5-5 with his field goals and 6-13 with his free throws.

One social media user made use of the ‘baptized’ term to describe what Mãozinha Pereira was able to achieve unintentionally.

This isn’t the first time that the term has been used against ‘The Stifle Tower’. From Russell Westbrook to Zion Williamson, many players who have successfully dunked over Gobert have been said to have “baptized” the Frenchman.

Overall, the reactions were negative towards Rudy Gobert. Fortunately for him, Victor Wembanyama and company were able to secure a win for France this time around. Therefore, Gobert’s moment of redemption may be yet to come within the next few games.