Rookie Dylan Harper can’t believe his eyes as Victor Wembanyama cooks Rudy Gobert
Dylan Harper's shocking baseline reaction perfectly summed up the moment Victor Wembanyama froze Rudy Gobert in Game 5.
Rookie Dylan Harper can’t believe his eyes as Victor Wembanyama cooks Rudy Gobert originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . Long before they were staring each other down in a playoff series, Rudy Gobert mentored a 13-year-old Victor Wembanyama after meeting at a 2017 French youth tournament.
Gobert taught him pick-and-roll angles, defensive positioning, and how to protect his 7-foot frame over an 82-game NBA season. As a rookie, Wembanyama joked that Gobert could keep winning the Defensive Player of the Year award until he entered the league. Wembanyama won the award unanimously in his third season.
Now, with a Western Conference Finals berth on the line, the student is schooling his teacher. The chess match between these two French big men took a new turn in Game 5 and it produced one of the most viral plays of the 2026 playoffs that left San Antonio Spurs rookie Dylan Harper visibly speechless. With San Antonio leading 108-91 with 4:48 left in the fourth quarter, Wembanyama caught the ball near the elbow.
At the time, he was guarded by multiple Wolves players, with Gobert leading the pressure and trying his best to take the ball from Wemby's long hand. But the 22-year-old is built with immense basketball IQ and he has a massive height advantage. He palmed it, slowed down and sold a shot fake so convincingly that it left Gobert clueless.