Wembanyama, Gobert set to match wits as Spurs, Timberwolves meet in West semifinal matchup

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.