Sorry but I loved what anon said about the beginning of gabby and marine's relationship and I really want to hear all your theories if you don't mind 😅
Personally I think there were strong feelings from the start but neither of them dared to make the first move. However, I seriously believe that they took an important step forward during the international break in november.
i love hearing theories!! (just for fun of course, nothing too serious as i know we will probably never know the real details of their relationship 😊)
i’ll yap about my thoughts since you asked 😌 (again, just for fun, do not take this literally, this is basically fanfiction lmao. like with any good theory, i've taken the information we know and then filled the gaps with my big gay imagination)
first: there’s no way they didn’t get close over the summer of 2021. the national team was together from may through august because of the back-to-back eurobasket and olympics. that's a lot of time with your national team in a normal year, but this was also when covid vaccines were first rolling out and most places were still practicing covid safety guidelines. this means the team likely spent the majority of their free time together on top of all of the training and games (and the national team vlogs basically confirm as much). gabby and marine’s body language by the end of the olympics really showed that they had grown close and were fond of each other, imo 🥹 (plus... the tattoo.)
at this point i do think they were just friends but i feel like one (or both) of them had little subconscious crushes on each other. like, i could see them having one of those super close girl-girl friendships that you look back on years later and realize “oh, we were totally in love with each other” LOL
then, they're apart after spending nearly every day together for three months. marine stayed in france and was back at lyon by the end of august. gabby went back to the states (i remember her attending a sparks game since she'd been traded there at the beginning of the season) and then went to hungary to join sopron.
they didn't see each other again until the november break, and i feel like you can tell they had big feelings about it. they acted like nervous teenagers with crushes around each other, LOL
anddd that makes me think that the time they spent apart naturally made them realize they had feelings for each other--like when you leave school/college for summer break and realize you aren't going to see your favorite person again until the summer is over. then you have those super achy crush feelings that make you feel like you're going insane LOL. yknow, thinking about them 24/7, feeling like you're on cloud 9 anytime you get a crumb of their attention, falling asleep imagining they're next to you, etc.
my theory is that they kept in touch during the break and possibly shared their feelings shortly before they joined the national team again (or just gushed about being excited to see each other again lmao) which is why they have those "shy teenagers in their first relationship" vibes the whole time. like marine waiting for gabby to go on the bus? please.
then, after the international break, they went back to their clubs. marine was with lyon in france, which was in eurocup that year, while gabby was with sopron in hungary, which was in euroleague. that means they wouldn't play against each other all season, and they wouldn't have a reason to see each other again until the next national team call-up in february 2022.
the most popular theory is that this is when they started dating, but imo they seem comfortable together, like they're consciously choosing to be at each others' sides 24/7 instead of looking for excuses to interact or be close to each other. them quietly walking together after practice feels girlfriend-y to me!
the rumors about gabby signing with asvel started to swirl around april 2022. i know that sapphics are infamous for moving fast, but leaving your euroleague team (after winning the championship) to play for a eurocup team (and probably take a pay cut) is a bigggg career move to make for a woman you've been dating for two months, imo! (especially because this was around the time that gabby started to express very strongly that basketball is a business and she's playing for the teams that benefit her the most.)
but..... it would make more sense to me if they'd been dating for five-six months and had already withstood long distance for an entire season by then 👀
this could potentially be my most delulu take, because they're obviously always spending time together when they can or when the national team calls for it, but i've also noticed that they spend october/november together when they can (like maybe it's their anniversary 😚)
marine goes to the world cup in australia (which is at the end of september) to support the team despite being injured and not playing
gabby was having issues with her knee after the world cup and had to get treatment in the states (iirc she had a prp injection?). she arrived at lyon in early november even though she couldn't play for a month (week 6 of lfb - delayed due to world cup)
during this period gabby also attends the eurobasket qualifiers to support the team despite not being able to play
gabby fractured her foot in august and she OBVIOUSLY started rehabbing in new york the minute seattle lost in the playoffs (bc she starts posting like a tourist 💀)
THEN she makes the "the world adores you post" (which i still think is one of the gayest things she has ever done on main)
gabby arrives at lyon at the end of october, one month before she could actually play (week 7 of lfb) and two weeks before marine herself arrived (gabby actually got to lyon before the wnba finals were over, lol)
do i even need to say it? 💀 marine goes on her wnba WAG tour in august-september (including sitting behind the seattle bench when they played new york AND traveling with the team for away games)
they both have to go to turkey pretty quickly, but they return to france in november for the international break/eurobasket qualifiers. marine's in wag mode (again) because she's injured (again)
--note: the games are happening in caen, which is close to marine's hometown and also where she started her career
during the international break marine also goes to argentan (which is not close to caen lol) for the opening of a basketball court and mural that were installed in her honor... anddd gabby's there too
gabby and marine appear to reunite the minute they can at the end of the wnba postseason (gabby flies to phoenix the day after the seattle loss to go watch marine look pretty on the bench lol)
they seem to spend quality time together doing lovey couple things in new york and seattle (and possibly LA?) for the next month
they're apart for the end of october/beginning of november (marine's in france, gabby's rehabbing) before arriving in turkey, gabby's first stop when she arrives is watching marine's first game with gala LMAO
again, i know this is kinda delulu considering they will spend any free time they can together at any point of the year, butttt i am so convinced that they started dating in late 2021 that i will take any crumb of evidence to support that, LOL
hope u enjoyed my unnecessarily long answer!! this was a fun question 🫶
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