French basketball rivals Gobert and Wembanyama pause communication as Spurs and Timberwolves series reaches Game 5

The San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves remain locked at 2-2 in the NBA second-round playoff series, with the contest returning to San Antonio for Game 5 on Tuesday. The matchup features a unique narrative between French centres Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama, who share a decade-long friendship and mentorship. While Gobert aims to secure his first championship, Wembanyama seeks to surpass his mentor's defensive legacy. Despite a recent pause in their text messaging to focus on the playoffs, the pair maintains on-court greetings and family contact.

The two French big men have paused their text message communication for the past week to focus on the playoffs, though they still exchange greetings on the court and their families see each other. Gobert revealed that Wembanyama recently texted him asking specifically about the type of water filters he uses, highlighting Wembanyama's continued interest in Gobert's regimen for body preservation. This interaction underscores the deep professional respect between the pair, even as they now occupy opposing sides of the court.

During the 2024 Olympics, the pair played together briefly early in the tournament but were split up later; Gobert noted he was limited to 12 minutes in the gold medal loss to the United States. That shared experience on the international stage contrasts sharply with the current intensity of the domestic series, where the dynamic has shifted from camaraderie to direct competition.

ESPN tracking data indicates Gobert has held Wembanyama to 40 per cent shooting, eight of 20, as the primary defender in this series, with Gobert being most effective at keeping Wembanyama away from the basket. Wembanyama previously told a Spurs assistant coach in the summer that he was already better than Gobert defensively, a claim the coach countered by noting the Spurs' poor defensive ranking the prior season.

Gobert agreed to take ESPN inside his history with Wembanyama the morning of Game 3, pulling back the curtain on their lines of communication. The French big men share almost a decade of friendship, but their text message thread has been quiet for the past week. "Not right now," Gobert said. "[We talk] in regular times. We say 'hi' [on the court]. Our families see each other. But we are focused."

As the series shifts back to San Antonio, the focus remains on the individual goals of the French rivals. Gobert, 33, is trying to break through the playoff ceiling before it is too late and win his first title, while the 22-year-old he once guided as a teenager is in the way, swatting everything in sight. Wembanyama is trying to fast-forward his stampede to greatness, obsessed with piling up hardware as rapidly as possible. But his mentor is the lanky roadblock between him and that third-season dream.