Over the summer, shortly before moving out of his Manhattan Beach, Calif., home, Vladislav Gavrikov received a custom-made pair of skates in the mail. The New York Rangers defenseman had reached out to a Bauer Hockey equipment rep with a specific request: He didn’t want a pair of his normal skates. He wanted bigger ones.

Way bigger.

During his time with the Los Angeles Kings, Gavrikov befriended ex-NBA player and fellow Russian Timofey Mozgov. The 7-foot-1 center, who started his NBA career with the New York Knicks and won a championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, had expressed interest in skating.

“I’m going to show you how good I am as an athlete,” Mozgov joked with his friend.

Mozgov, who played in the NBA from 2010 to 2018, has size 18 feet. Manufacturers don’t make skates that big, leading Gavrikov to reach out to Bauer, the company that makes his skates. He took Mozgov to a hockey shop in Anaheim that scanned his feet for exact measurements.

Two months later, the skates finally arrived in two boxes, leading Gavrikov to believe Bauer sent him two pairs. He opened the packages to find one skate in each box: They were too big to fit in one.

“Now I owe him,” said the 39-year-old Mozgov in a phone interview from Moscow. “I owe (it to) him to learn how to skate at least because he put (in) a lot of effort to make it happen.”

Close friendships between NHL and NBA players, current or former, aren’t common, but it makes sense for athletes to find common ground over their public-facing, demanding careers. When Gavrikov and Mozgov were both living in Los Angeles, they forged a quick bond, finding comfort with each other more than 5,000 miles from their home country. It has continued with Mozgov back in Russia and Gavrikov, 30, on the Rangers, with whom he signed a seven-year, $49 million contract over the summer. (New York has had a difficult season, but Gavrikov has largely brought the Rangers what they paid for: a steady defensive presence who has paired well with Adam Fox.)

Because Mozgov started his NBA career in New York, Gavrikov asked about where he lived and his overall experience after the defenseman signed with the Rangers. They caught up on the phone recently and will likely hang out in Russia over the summer.

The two athletes first met in 2023 while attending a birthday party for Russian actor Andrey Burkovskiy, a mutual friend. Gavrikov, in his first full season with the Kings at the time, hit it off with the former basketball player, and they discovered they lived only a 10-minute walk from each other in Manhattan Beach.

“We became friends pretty quickly,” Gavrikov said. “We could just hang out. Our wives became friends, too. That was easy and cool for us.”

Mozgov, who spent a season with the Lakers and still owns his house in Los Angeles, started going out to dinners with Gavrikov, and the two hosted each other’s families at their homes. They went on sunny California walks together, during which Gavrikov often saw fans approach Mozgov to request autographs or gawk at his height.

Gavrikov’s oldest child, his 4-year-old daughter Mira, is around the same age as Mozgov’s youngest son, so they’re able to play together. They get along well — an added perk.

Sports, naturally, play a role in Mozgov and Gavrikov’s friendship. They went to a few Lakers games during Gavrikov’s stint with the Kings, and Mozgov introduced the defenseman to former NBA standout Andrei Kirilenko while they were all back in Russia over the summer. On a few occasions, Gavrikov has taken the court with Mozgov and even faced off in one-on-one games.

“Didn’t work out pretty good for me,” Gavrikov deadpanned.

Mozgov showed the NHLer his 2016 NBA championship ring, as well as pictures with LeBron James. Gavrikov asked about the championship parade, and Mozgov played him videos of the million-plus fans filling the streets of Cleveland.

Mozgov generally prefers playing a sport to spectating, so he didn’t watch much hockey before meeting Gavrikov, except when the Russian national hockey team played in big international tournaments. But, he said, “when you have a buddy with free tickets, it’s always nice.”

At Kings games, Gavrikov always requested aisle seats for his friend; Mozgov’s legs are too long to sit comfortably unless he can extend them out into the walkway. The former NBA player found himself liking the sport and was pleasantly surprised to see his wife, Alla Mozgova-Pirshina, get into it, too. He estimates they went to a couple of Kings games a month.

Timofey Mozgov shows off one of his new Size 18 custom ice skates. (Courtesy of Vladislav Gavrikov)

Now Mozgov, with some help from Gavrikov, has his sights set on getting on the ice himself. He has never skated before but is planning to have his first lesson next week. He knows an employee with Spartak, a KHL club in Moscow, who is coordinating the session.

“She told me they’re going to make it fun for everybody,” Mozgov said. “Probably some hockey player from the team is going to teach me how to skate.”

“He’s going to be like a cow on the ice!” Gavrikov joked.

Mozgov believes the KHL club will put out a video of him learning, and he mused that he could maybe hit the ice once or twice a week during the winter. Soon enough, he said, he’ll need a stick and pads.

“I know it’s not that simple, but I’m just going to try for fun,” he said. “Maybe (if) some All-Star game, celebrity game (asks) me to play, I will play with joy. I don’t even know how long it will take me to learn how to play. … I’m probably going to be 65 years old by my first game.”

Goalie, he thinks, might be his best position. He’s got the size, after all.

Asked if he’d help with teaching, Gavrikov said: “I’m not a good skater, but yeah. Might ask my daughter. She’s gotta be a better teacher than me.”

Mozgov, of course, has no illusions of playing at too high a level. He would, however, enjoy getting on the ice with his friend and skate provider.

“Can you imagine me and Vlad playing on the same team soon?” he said. “Would be fun, huh?”