Timberwolves Chris Finch Appears to Call Out NBA for Rudy Gobert, Jamal Murray Fines

Chris Finch doesn't seem to think fines are fair.

Nov 26, 2023; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch reacts to a / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has seen his team fumble a golden opportunity to advance to the Western Conference Finals, and perhaps further, by dropping three consecutive games to the Denver Nuggets. They now sit on the brink of elimination and have to solve the unsolvable puzzle of Nikola Jokic twice in a row despite losing all momentum.

Finch did, however, get in a mild zinger regarding the NBA's policy on fiscal punishment after Rudy Gobert was fined $75,000 for making a money gesture toward the referees.

The Timberwolves big man was previously dinged $100,000 for directing the same gesture toward Scott Foster back in March so he really, really loves the bit considering that he's paid $175,000 in total to perform it.

Anyway, Finch appears to be calling out the NBA for a perceived disparity in the disciplining arts in large part because Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was not suspended and barely fined for throwing a towel and heat pack on the court during Denver's Game 2 loss. Finch wants to see an itemized receipt on the Gobert situation.

Finch on the Rudy fine: “I’d like to see the itemized receipt. If it’s 75 for the gesture then it must be 10K for the towel and 5 for the heating pad?”

— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) May 15, 2024

A charitable reading here is that Finch is just standing up for one of his players, but a more rational one is that there's far too much whining by everyone still standing in the NBA Playoffs, and it looks especially bad when the franchise's best season in decades is rapidly imploding.

Gobert was awesome in Game 5, going a perfect 7-for-7 from the field. He couldn't stop Jokic, who went for 40 points, but then again, who can? Not even the clock. The Timberwolves will need him to look like the NBA Defensive Player of the Decade for the next 96 minutes, or Finch will have even more time to lament the intricacies of postseason fines and pour over receipts like someone being audited.