Gobert still salty over Waiters play, but 'can't be mad at someone forever'

Rudy Gobert will have at least a month to stew over the play that left him with a knee bruise. And while the Utah Jazz center feels fortunate the injury wasn't worse, he still has a bitter taste in his mouth about the way Miami Heat guard Dion Waiters dove toward and collided with him.

"I thought it could have been worse, to be honest," Gobert said Wednesday on "The Woj Pod." "I was happy that my ligaments were fine. I have a bone bruise, and it could have been way worse, especially when I looked at the video. Luckily I had the reflex of lifting my foot up at the last moment and avoided the worst. ...

"I don't like the way it happened. I can't be mad at someone forever. I think now it's time for me to, after a few days, just focus on getting back and focus on my team. But yeah, it's frustrating. I worked so hard this summer to be ready this year, and when this play happens it's frustrating because myself and my team get penalized."

In the immediate aftermath of the injury, Gobert called Waiters' dive "dirty." Waiters responded by insisting that he's "never been a dirty player" and suggested Gobert "get out of his feelings." Gobert sent back another volley, saying, "It's not my feelings, it's my knee."

Gobert acknowledged that his lanky, 7-foot-1 frame leaves him more susceptible to knee shots, but feels Waiters still ought to have exercised a bit more caution.

"It's harder for me, I would say, to get lower than a guy that's smaller," he said. "On that one, I was looking away, I was kind of looking at the ball, and there was nothing happening under me. I didn't really think someone was going to dive at this moment, and I wasn't really prepared for it."