'It’s disrespectful': Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert criticizes NBA officiating after loss to Suns

Minnesota Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert is the latest player to express frustrations with NBA officiating.

Gobert was upset at the number of fouls called in the second half against the Phoenix Suns. He was given four offensive fouls after halftime that stymied the Timberwolves’ momentum. As a team, Minnesota committed 24 total fouls in the game.

The Timberwolves fell 107-100 to the Suns on Wednesday night. After the game, Gobert aired his grievances to local reporters.

"It’s really not fair. Every night. I’ve been in this league for 10 years and I try to always give the benefit of the doubt, but it’s hard for me to think they’re not trying to help (the Suns) win tonight," Gobert said, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "It’s hard for me to think they didn’t try to help the Warriors win the other night or Sacramento Kings the other night. It’s just so obvious. As a basketball player that’s been in the league for so long, it’s disrespectful and it sucks, to be honest."

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Gobert had five fouls in 35 minutes and finished with seven points, 15 rebounds and six turnovers in the game. He felt the officiating impacted the on-court play. He mentioned that players spend a lot of time preparing to play in high-level games and get manipulated by the officials.

"We work so hard to be in a position to compete with the best and we just get manipulated into those situations where it just impacts the game for the other team too much," Gobert said. "They know how to do it. They do it a lot of different ways. Tonight, was another way of doing it. But it’s all good. We understand that it’s also a business."

The Suns had 27 free-throw attempts. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves went to the charity stripe 12 times. The difference paid dividends on the scoreboard. The Suns outscored the Timberwolves by 10 points in the third quarter to erase a halftime deficit.

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch noted the free-throw disparity was alarming. However, he didn’t make any references to the officiating. He did mention how Suns head coach Monty Williams was fined $20,000 for criticizing officials last week.

"Sitting up here and talking about it or whatever, must have worked for them," Finch said. "Because this is a team that doesn't historically draw fouls at the rate they did."

Gobert was in agreement. He referenced that the Timberwolves aren’t in the biggest of media markets, such as Los Angeles or New York. He also shed light on how the officiating can favor the NBA stars on the national stage.

"We understand that we're not the biggest of the markets and we're a team that – I think you want to see KD (Kevin Durant) in the playoffs, Steph (Stephen Curry) in the playoffs, you want to see LeBron (James) in the playoffs," Gobert said. "(The) Timberwolves are not there yet. We got to keep putting our head down, keep playing through that and it's frustrating for sure, especially for me."

NBA officiating has been a topic of discussion this season. Several players have called out officials publicly regarding their performance. Toronto Raptors star Fred VanVleet was fined 30,000 for his comments earlier this month.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rudy Gobert criticizes NBA officiating after Timberwolves lose to Suns