Ricky Rubio faces his 11th season in the NBA with 31 years. A lifetime in a League that devours careers without any kind of qualms: the average stay for a player is 4.5 seasons. A voracity that no one is free from, not European stars or number one in the draft. The NBA is a jungle in which the Spanish international has managed to survive through adaptation to both his environment and the evolution of the game and his skills.
Because the point guard is not the same precocious kid who landed as a rock star in Minnesota when he was only 20 years old from Barcelona. Ricky is no longer the player of highlights night yes and night too (although it still manages to sneak into some fast consumption videos), is a more mature, more stable player, with an overdeveloped knowledge of the game, of spaces and of time. Honored in international championships with the MVP of the last World Cup and within the best quintet of the Olympic Games as the captain of the National Team.
And very, very respected within the NBA, although from Spain his trips from one franchise to another are seen as an affront to his figure. However, organizations see Rubio as a mentor, a locker room organizer and not because of his firmness with the rest of his peers, but because of his hand as a mentor to the young people: in Utah, Donovan Mitchell; in Phoenix, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton; in Minnesota, Anthony Edwards. None have bad words for him. There is only praise.
“Ricky is a starting point guard in the NBA. There is no doubt about that. He is at the top of the bases of this League. He has the IQ of a sage. Has the focus of a master in the match. He has an attractive personality that people want to play with. It will make this team better. Wherever he goes, people play better. If you want to call him a substitute, I call him another starter, ”said JB Bickerstaff, his coach at Cleveland Cavaliers, in the middle. Cleveland.com.
An international superstar
The Cavs are Ricky’s fourth team in just three years. Since leaving Utah in the summer of 2019 as a free agent, he has passed through the Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves before landing this summer in Ohio. Between Arizona and the Wolves, the Spaniard took a slight step in Oklahoma City as part of Chris Paul’s transfer from OKC to Phoenix.
“We consider him an international superstar. Ricky is really important for us in how we are going to take a step forward, ”said Koby Altman, general manager of some Cavs who want to resurface after the departure of LeBron James in 2018 after playing four Finals and winning the first story ring for the franchise.
And, how to go back to being great? With a hopeful core of youth. Cleveland puts a very young quintet on track at each game, with Garland (22 years old) and Sexton (23) at the controls, and Allen (23) and Mobley (20 years for the next rookie of the year) in the zone. Only Markkanen, before entering the protocols for COVID, reached 24. Without the Finnish, it is Dean Wade who has taken the witness with 25 years. And Rubio enters the second unit. From the bench to average 27.9 minutes on the track. Inspire confidence and put order in the revelation team of the season with a record of 7-4.
“We hope that Ricky will be the Ricky of the Spanish National Team. He is playing at a high level and with extreme faith. He has prepared himself physically and mentally for the best year of his career. We want to give him the opportunity to do that because the better he plays, the more he will help us and the better team we will be, ”continued Bickerstaff. “We expect him to lead. We expect him to be aggressive in attack and make the right plays like he does. Then, in defense, that he communicates, that he be in the right places and help us to that end as well. We know who Ricky is. We are not trying to change him: we want him to play with that freedom and be the best version of himself”.
Love the game
“He is now a 10-year veteran. A guy who has grown a lot, who has had an impact everywhere he has been. He kept getting better, he had an amazing summer. Have your presence on this team, especially with the guard younger, it’s huge. He is a consummate professional. He’s a guy who loves the game and the way he happens is contagious. Having Ricky couldn’t be better for us, ”says Kevin Love, who knows very well what it’s like to feed on Rubio: in Minnesota they made an explosive couple before the power forward landed in Ohio with LeBron and Irving.
Impact on the game
“It organizes us. He is very good at putting people in their places and driving the ball where it should be. Ricky has been a great help to us. Get in and have a big impact on the game immediately. His presence out there, he doesn’t even have to score or touch the ball, he just has to be out there putting people in the right position, ”praised Garland, one of the great precocious stars of the franchise.
Bickerstaff noted: “It’s contagious. That’s why boys run. That’s why guys cut. They know that he is going to deliver the ball to them. That is what he has done throughout his career. He is one of the best in the NBA, throwing the ball forward and helping his teammates make easy baskets. He is one of the best in the League in reading defense and in finding his teammates’ cuts. When you have the ball in your hands, everyone is a threat ”. This is Ricky Rubio, the genius of El Masnou, whose 13.7 points per game is the maximum of his career. His 37 goals against the New York Knicks this past morning show how he is seeing the rim. How you enjoy. Always record in the League. Spanish is in a great moment