The French Connection on Ice: Gobert and Wembanyama Pause Friendship for West Semifinals
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San Antonio — Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama have spent nearly a decade exchanging text messages about training methods, nutrition plans and even household water filters. This week their phones are silent. The two French centers are locked in a Western Conference second-round series that is tied 2-2 heading into Game 5 on Tuesday at Frost Bank Center (8 p.m. ET, NBC).
Gobert, 33, is chasing his first NBA championship after a career-defining first-round performance in which he limited Nikola Jokić to 41.5% shooting. Wembanyama, 22, is trying to accelerate his own march toward greatness and add a title in just his third season. Their mentors-turned-rivals storyline intensified in Game 4 when Wembanyama’s right elbow caught Timberwolves forward Naz Reid in the jaw, earning a flagrant foul that shifted the series’ tone.
Shared history now on hold
The relationship began in the summer of 2017, when agent Jérémy Medjana introduced a 13-year-old Wembanyama—already taller than six feet—to Gobert at a youth event in France. By 2020, the pair were facing each other in a filmed 2-on-2 workout in Nanterre, with Gobert and Vincent Poirier matching up against teenage prospects Wembanyama and Maxime Raynaud.
Since then, Wembanyama has routinely tapped Gobert for advice on durability. Gobert has logged at least 70 games in eight seasons and rarely plays fewer than 30 minutes a night across 905 career contests. “You can be as talented as you want, but if you’re not able to be on the floor, what’s the point?” Gobert said before Game 3. Wembanyama calls him a model for big men looking to protect their bodies.
Defensive Player lineage
Wembanyama’s second season was cut short by deep-vein thrombosis in his right shoulder, a scare that sharpened his focus. He rebounded to win this year’s Defensive Player of the Year award unanimously while helping San Antonio post the NBA’s third-best defense and a 62-20 record. Gobert owns four DPOY trophies himself and insists he “will keep chasing” the honor.
According to ESPN tracking data, Gobert has held Wembanyama to 8-for-20 shooting (40%) as the primary defender through four games. Minnesota also credits Gobert’s rim protection for blunting San Antonio’s interior attack.
Olympic teammates, playoff opponents
The pair shared France’s frontcourt at the 2024 Olympics, though national coach Vincent Collet eventually staggered their minutes and limited Gobert to 12 minutes in the gold-medal loss to Team USA. Gobert is already eyeing a potential reunion at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles—possibly his last shot at Olympic gold.
For now, all attention is on the NBA postseason. Gobert said the friends exchange greetings on the court, but nothing more. “Not right now,” he noted. “We are focused.”
Game 5 marks the first of a possible three remaining meetings. Minnesota counts on Gobert’s experience and physicality to slow the Spurs’ 7-foot-3 phenom. San Antonio expects an aggressive response from Wembanyama after Saturday’s flagrant foul. Whatever happens, both centers believe their on-court duel offers young French players a glimpse of what is possible at basketball’s highest level.
Source: ESPN
