After being banned from Tuesday’s game in San Francisco for fighting, Timberwolves standout Jaden McDaniels believes his on-court altercation with Klay Thompson was a ‘bigger thing’ to the Warriors shooting guard.

Before Minnesota defeated Golden State 104-101, McDaniels and Thompson attacked and assaulted each other in a heated incident at Chase Center.

Warriors power forward Draymond Green was seen on camera placing 7-foot-1-inch Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert in a headlock, earning him a five-game suspension from the NBA.

Along with Gobert, McDaniels and Thompson were fined $25,000 for their roles in the brawl.

However, speaking after Tuesday’s heated exchange, McDaniels stated that his feud with Thompson was not initially serious in his opinion. 

‘There was some back-and-forth, but I wasn’t taking it seriously,’ he explained. ‘I couldn’t stop laughing. And so I guess it became more important to him.

‘When he missed a shot, we dashed onto the court. We probably said something back to each other, and it wasn’t serious to me because I was laughing and fooling around.

‘Some folks have different perspectives.’

‘No, I don’t know bruh at all,’ McDaniels answered when asked if he had any history with the Golden State forward. ‘All I know is that he’s Klay Thompson.’

Thompson and McDaniels got caught up at half court less than two minutes into Tuesday night’s game before putting hands on each other to ignite the brawl. 

Green then charged in from a distance and promptly got Gobert in a headlock before teammates interfered. In San Francisco, all four players involved in the melee were removed from the game.

The NBA revealed on Wednesday that Green has received a five-game suspension for his involvement in the incident.

‘Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green has been suspended five games without pay for escalating an on-court altercation and forcibly grabbing Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert around the neck in an unsportsmanlike and dangerous manner, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations,’ the league said in a statement.

‘The ban is predicated in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike behavior.’ 

‘I was kind of astonished,’ McDaniels continued. I had no idea Draymond was going to do all of that. That came as a surprise to me.

‘But aside from that, it was just a minor altercation.’