Rudy Gobert fined by NBA for referee interaction

All-Defensive Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was fined to the tune of $100K, the maximum amount possible, by the NBA, the league has announced.

During the game, Gobert made a mocking gesture indicating that attendant referee Scott Foster was being influenced by gambling amid the fourth quarter of an eventual 113-104 overtime road defeat to the Cavaliers on Friday.

“The fine takes into account Gobert’s past instances of conduct detrimental to the NBA with regard to publicly criticizing the officiation,” the NBA revealed in its statement.

The 7-foot-1 big man received a technical foul for his efforts, his sixth (and thus final) personal foul of the night. The resulting foul shots enabled Cleveland to ultimately send the contest into a bonus period.

Gobert, 31, has looked like his Jazz-era self on the court for the West’s No. 2 seed. Across 62 contests, he’s averaging 13.8 PPG, while shooting 64.9 percent shooting from the floor in combination with 12.9 RPG, 2.1 BPG and 1.2 APG.