Rudy Gobert knew long before the rest of the world.
Victor Wembanyama was only 13 when Gobert first heard of him. It didn't take long for Gobert to see the enormous potential in his French countryman. When they would talk, Wembanyama asked the questions and Gobert gave him the answers.
“And the rest is history,” Gobert said.
The basketball world is now fully aware of what Gobert saw in Wembanyama years ago. A French center will be headed to the NBA's
Final Four in a couple of weeks; which one it'll be hangs on the outcome of a Western Conference semifinal series between Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs and Gobert's Minnesota Timberwolves. Game 1 is Monday night in San Antonio.
“I’m very, very proud and I’m very excited to watch him grow every day, to see his work paying off,” Gobert said. “Outside of the talent, he’s someone that has a very unique soul, a very unique mind and nothing is an accident. It’s not an accident that he’s having the success that he’s having.”
There's never been a playoff series that is entirely about a 1-on-1 matchup, though it's easy to understand why so much attention will be devoted to the Wembanyama vs. Gobert element of these games.
It's reasonable to think many basketball fans learned of Wembanyama when the now-infamous video of a 2-on-2 game featuring he and Gobert came out six years ago. The first three baskets on the clip were Wembanyama making two jumpers over Gobert, then cutting free for a dunk.
Wembanyama is now a defensive player of the year and MVP finalist, a bona fide superstar. But he's still asking Gobert for advice — including a recent query about what water filter Gobert uses in his home. A small detail, sure, but an illustration of how Wembanyama's thirst for knowledge remains in place.
“He's meant a lot as a role model,” Wembanyama said. “There’s lots of (ways) that he inspired me and I think he should inspire more people in terms of taking care of your body. He should be a model for all big men. So, I would say that’s the main thing.”
Minnesota is trying to reach the Western Conference finals for the third consecutive season, while San Antonio is bidding for its first trip there since 2017. The Timberwolves found a way to defeat third-seeded Denver in Round 1, finishing that off even after Donte DiVincenzo tore his Achilles and Anthony Edwards was sidelined with a knee injury.
DiVincenzo is lost for the season; Edwards is lost for the short-term and the belief is that he'll have a chance to play at some point in this series. And the Spurs insist they won't have any false sense of security just because Minnesota's starting backcourt is missing.
“They guard. They’re physical. They try to impose that will and impose their will and their competitiveness on you,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “And they've got a lot of individuals that take pride in that.”
Minnesota went 2-1 against San Antonio this season, and Edwards was certainly among the biggest reasons why — he averaged 36.7 points in the three games on 58% shooting, 52% from 3-point range.
The Spurs blocked only seven shots against the Timberwolves, by far the lowest total they had against any Western Conference opponent this season. Wembanyama appeared in only two of those three games, but that's still a sign of how Minnesota probably picked the right shot more often than not.
“It’s going to be decisions that you make in the paint,” Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said. “It’s going to come down to them.”
The French centers have gone head-to-head eight times in the regular season, and both can claim bragging rights.
Gobert's teams have gone 6-2 in those games. Wembanyama has scored 20 or more points in five of those meetings.
The Spurs are huge favorites in the series — oddsmakers have them at minus-2000 to win, meaning a $100 wager at those odds would earn a bettor a whopping $5 in profit.
The Timberwolves' odds going into the series are +950; that means a $100 wager would return $1,050.
This is the 19th time in this playoff format — in place since 1984 — where a No. 6 seed has met a No. 2 seed in the conference playoffs.
There have been four upsets in such matchups:
— 2024, Indiana defeated New York 4-3.
— 1995, Houston defeated Phoenix 4-3.
— 1989, Chicago defeated New York 4-2.
— 1984, Phoenix defeated Utah 4-2.
Starting Sunday, there could be either a Timberwolves game or a Minnesota Wild game in the Stanley Cup playoffs on 10 of the next 11 days (assuming those series don't end in sweeps). The Wild are playing the Colorado Avalanche in the West semifinals.
The Minnesota teams play their home games in different buildings — the Wild play in St. Paul — but if both series go six games then the Timberwolves and Wild will both be home on May 15 for Game 6s.
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