Wolves' Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert to face off for Olympic gold

Team USA and France meet in the men's basketball final at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) and center Rudy Gobert (27) talk during the first half of Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center in Phoenix on April 26, 2024. / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

On a typical night, Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert share the court together in the Timberwolves starting lineup. But on Saturday, the teammates will turn into foes as Edwards and Team USA face Gobert and France with a gold medal on the line in the men's basketball final in Paris.

While both have helped their countries reach the final on the world's biggest stage, Edwards and Gobert — who join Kevin Garnett and Kevin Love as the only Timberwolves players to play in the Olympic final — have had different journeys getting there, and different levels of success.

Edwards has proven to be one of the Americans' most effective scorers. Edwards' Olympic run has included scoring a game-high 26 points in their final group-stage game against Puerto Rico, and he followed that showing with a 17-point performance in the quarterfinals against Brazil. Edwards had just two points, but played 13 minutes, in Thursday's dramatic semifinal comeback win over Serbia.

Gobert, meanwhile, started all three of France's group-stage games, averaging six points per game as the French went 2-1. But Gobert has found himself on the bench in the knockout round, playing just 3 minutes, 41 seconds in a quarterfinal win over Canada and seeing just 5 minutes, 9 seconds in France's semifinal win over Germany. Gobert's diminished role hasn't been without controversy.

Gobert has been limited by a finger injury that he said required surgery, however, France's coach Vincent Collet later disputed Gobert's claim he had surgery, saying he was benched for the matchup against Canada. That'll certainly be a storyline to follow ahead of the gold-medal game.

The French will likely need Gobert in the lineup, and for him to play quite well, in order to contend with Edwards and a U.S. team that's loaded with talent, including the likes of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum, whose lack of playing time has also been controversial.

Even among a U.S. team loaded with talent, Edwards made noise ahead of the Olympics when he stated that he still viewed himself as the No. 1 option. Edwards has, however, certainly played like it with his showings against Puerto Rico and Brazil, and he's been one of the team's leading scorers.

There will be no shortage of drama to be played out in the gold-medal game, but certainly a favorite angle for Timberwolves fans will be seeing Edwards and Gobert go against each other. Edwards and the U.S. will see Gobert and France at 2:30 p.m. CST on Saturday in a game televised on NBC.