Morris was a throw-in as part of the controversial Luka Doncic trade<\/a> that sent the Slovenian superstar to LA at midseason.<\/p>\n And while he was not given much chance to show out on the court for the LA Lakers, Morris is keen to defend his team when he can on TV.<\/p>\n The LA Lakers finished as the third-seed<\/a> after reaching 50 wins. Their reward was a matchup in the opening playoff round against the six-seed Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n Minnesota were the dominant team across the series, winning 4-1, dominating a closeout Game 5.<\/p>\n Rudy Gobert<\/a> was the hero for the Timberwolves in the deciding game, with 27 points and 24 rebounds to expose the Lakers\u2019 complete absence of rim protection.<\/p>\n And this was referred to on First Take when ESPN insider Tim MacMahon referred to the Lakers\u2019 urgent need to fix their problems.<\/p>\n MacMahon said: \u201cRudy Gobert looked like Wilt Chamberlain while bouncing the Lakers from the playoffs in Game 5 of the playoffs. There\u2019s a glaring void in the middle of that Lakers starting lineup. <\/p>\n \u201cThey know it, and they absolutely have to address that this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka<\/a> has not disputed the team\u2019s need to fix this glaring issue, expressing his intent to do so this offseason<\/a>.<\/p>\n But when it comes to comparisons to Wilt Chamberlain, Markieff Morris takes exception to the glowing praise of Rudy Gobert.<\/p>\n Morris responded: \u201cHe wasn\u2019t looking like nothing. He had one good game that entire series. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think he scored more than 10 points any other game that series.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Markieff Morris is right and wrong about Rudy Gobert<\/p>\n Markieff Morris is not incorrect that Rudy Gobert had one good game in the Timberwolves series with the LA Lakers.<\/p>\n Rudy Gobert vs LALPointsReboundsAssistsGame 1261Game 2660Game 3131Game 45100Game 527240<\/p>\n Gobert\u2019s Game 5 was an outlier, where he scored more points (27) than he did in his previous four games combined (14). <\/p>\n He also had just one fewer rebounds (24) than he did in his previous four (25).<\/p>\n![\"Rudy](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2212832934-941x627.jpg\")
Photo by Harry How\/Getty ImagesMarkieff Morris on Rudy Gobert<\/p>\n