Rudy Gobert makes request for Victor Wembanyama ‘treatment’ after goaltending controversy

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama blocked an NBA playoff record 12 shots during Monday’s Game 1 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, the referees appeared to miss several goaltending calls during the historic defensive performance.

Rudy Gobert called out the missed calls and requested similar treatment from the referees following the victory.

“He fouled me on the first one, but if you look at them, probably three or four [were goaltends]. I wished I had that type of treatment too,” Gobert said.

While Wembanyama turned in a dominant defensive showing, the film showed at least three missed goaltends and several missed foul calls.

Almost all Wemby's blocks were goaltends/fouls. pic.twitter.com/kiFxdO82u9

— House of Lowlights (@HouseLowlights) May 5, 2026

The Timberwolves gutted out an upset win thanks to their own defensive performance. However, the missed calls on Wembanyama could have been a season-altering development had they lost.

Rudy Gobert, Chris Finch call out missed calls on Victory Wembanyama after Game 1 win

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch didn’t hold back on the officials’ mistakes postgame.

“[Wembanyama] had an historic night, but when we looked at them, at least four of them were goaltending. Maybe even a fifth,” Finch said. “To me, it’s a little alarming that none of them were called. Here’s a generational shot-blocker who’s seven-foot-six, who goes after everything, and there’s no heightened awareness that these blocks could be goaltends. I mean, the third possession of the game was a goaltend, and it was a clean, obvious one. So, let’s just say they were four. That’s eight points.

The value of eight points in an NBA game is massive, right? That’s also 33 percent of his blocks were goaltending, uncalled… That’s a huge number. We are going to keep coming. We got to make some better decisions in how we attack the rim, but all credit to the guys for not being discouraged, because we should have walked away with another eight points.”

While the Timberwolves struggled to overcome Wembanyama’s interior defensive presence, they held him in check on the other end. The Spurs center finished with 13 points on 5-of-17 shooting from the field and 0-of-8 from three during the 104-102 loss.

Meanwhile, Julius Randle scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-20 shooting for Minnesota, while Anthony Edwards added 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting in 25 minutes off the bench.

The Timberwolves will attempt to take a stunning 2-0 lead during Game 2 on Wednesday night.

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