Minnesota Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert's relationship with the mother of his son has become fraught with controversy after a series of messages from both sides of their breakup.
A May 16 TMZ report alleged that Gobert kicked his girlfriend, Julia Bonilla, and their 1-year-old son, Romeo, out of his home last month after Bonilla revealed she was pregnant with a second child.
In a lengthy message on her Instagram story, Bonilla said she's enduring “one of the most painful times" in her life and that she has never been "unfaithful" to the "father of her children."
Gobert addressed the report on his Instagram story, saying there is "inaccurate information out there." Gobert added that he and Bonilla are in the painful process of "redefining our co-parenting relationship" and that being a father is one of his "most important life purposes."
Bonilla added a one-word message to her story just minutes after Gobert's statement.
Rudy Gobert
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert
Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
"Lol," she wrote on her story before changing her privacy settings on her Instagram account.
Sources told TMZ that Bonilla hoped to move back to her home country of France, but Gobert wants her and their son, Romeo, to stay so they can "figure out child custody" after the end of the Timberwolves' season.
"I'm fully committed to keep supporting the well-being of all the people that I care about," Gobert added in his Instagram story. "I'm asking everyone to please refrain from speculating and to respect our privacy in these difficult times."
Gobert and Bonilla's relationship became public after he announced that Bonilla was expecting in February 2024. Gobert missed Game 2 against the Denver Nuggets in last year's Western Conference semifinals to be there for the birth of Romeo on May 7.
Time will tell what may come for Gobert's personal life with Bonilla and Romeo, but it couldn't have come at a worse time for a Timberwolves team that begins its Western Conference finals schedule on Tuesday, March 20.