Born on October 21, 1990 in Barcelona, Spain, in 2020 he was the Golden Boy named Ricci Rubio.
Spain, a football kingdom, Barcelona, the football metropolis of the football kingdom, this is the hometown of Ricky Rubio. In such an environment full of strong football atmosphere, the odds of becoming a football star are far greater than those of basketball, and Rubio has become that small group of people, rooted in basketball, and has made a lot of fame.
With a handsome face and a skilled basketball skill, on October 15, 2005, Rubio, who was not yet an adult, landed in the Spanish Basketball Pro League, becoming the youngest player in the history of the Spanish Basketball League. That day was six days before his 15th birthday. Since then, Rubio has begun his legendary basketball career.
A year later, on October 24, 2006, Rubio, who had just turned 16, appeared in the Euroleague Basketball League, a year in which he took the league's steals and rookies into his arms. 2006, the second year of his career, was destined to be an extraordinary year for Rubio. In addition to his European League debut this year, the real name of the underage Rubio was the U16 European Championship. Rubio, who has been honed in the professional league, has far surpassed his peers. In the semifinals against the Tartans, Rubio scored a terrifying senior double with 19 points, 10 rebounds , 13 assists and 11 steals. In the final against Russia, Rubio continued to output, with a quasi-quadruple-double of 51 points + 24 rebounds + 12 assists + 7 steals to help Spain crown the king. That time Rubio won the scoring king, rebounding king, assist king, steal king and MVP in one go. 2006 was also a happy year for Spanish basketball, when their national team won the World Championship in Japan. Rubio, who was on top of the youth squad, seemed to see a call from the world championship.
So the opportunity came, and in the 2008 Olympic year, Spain threw an olive branch to Rubio, who was not yet eighteen years old. In the final against the American Dream team, Rubio made his debut and once again set a new record. This year, although Spain finally hated the final, the Olympic silver medal became Rubio's first honor in the World Series. For Rubio, the year was the key to taking his career further. The name "Golden Boy" began to become synonymous with Rubio.
If 2006 was the year Rubio let Europe know himself, 2008 was the year Rubio marketed himself to the international arena. The NBA, far across the ocean, began to pay silent attention to the golden boy from Spain. ESPN evaluates Rubio as a defender who can dominate the rhythm of the pitch, has excellent defensive steal predictions, and has full potential, and the key is that he is still very young. Yes, such a golden boy Rubio deserves to go to a higher stage to show himself.
On June 25, 2009, in Madison Square Garden, New York, the annual NBA Draft was held as scheduled, and the Minnesota Timberwolves selected the Spanish Golden Boy who had made an international name for himself with the fifth pick. In addition to Tabit, the other three in front of him are Griffin, Harden and the best rookie evans of the year, and more like Curry and DeRozan, who later grew into team leaders, are also ranked after the Golden Boy, which can be seen that the NBA has given enough recognition to the Spanish Golden Boy.
In Rubio's draft report, his passing vision, ability to control the field, ability to read defense, and ability to predict are widely recognized. However, Rubio's shortcomings are also very obvious, the lack of explosive power of top guards makes it difficult for him to end the attack under the basket, and he seems to prefer passing to shooting, which makes his shooting much criticized. I have to say that this draft report has studied Rubio thoroughly.
Rubio's fears about shooting are justified. After being selected by the Timberwolves, Rubio chose to continue to play in La Liga due to the contract with his old club. In the two seasons that Spain stayed behind, Rubio did not have much of a brilliant performance, but on the contrary deepened people's concerns about his shooting shortcomings. At the end of the 2010-2011 season, Rubio came to the cold of Minnesota with an average of 5 points, 4 rebounds and less than 20% three-point shooting per game to officially start his NBA journey.
At that time, the Timberwolves were leaderless in the post-Garnett era, and the thirsty Timberwolves gave Rubio a four-year, 16 million rookie contract. His first season with the NBA didn't seem to have been very friendly to Rubio, arriving just in time for the NBA shutdown, shrinking the regular season to 66 games, and then tearing the cruciate ligament in his left knee that was enough to ruin his career. However, he was still selected to the all-rookie team with 41 regular season games, averaging 10.2 points and 8.2 assists per game. But the 35.7 percent shooting percentage reaffirms fears.
In the cold minnesota, the Spanish Golden Boy stayed for six years, and in these six years, as the team's organizer, he averaged 8.3 assists per game, and Rubio worked hard. But his shooting skills don't seem to have improved, hovering around 30 percent of his shooting percentage and never shooting more than 35 percent from three-point range, making him an object in the eyes of opponents who can completely give up. In the past six years, the Timberwolves did not appear as a golden boy to get rid of the fish belly, but the name of "golden boy" was gradually ridiculed as "Lu Yuanwai".
In 2017, Lu Yuanwai's sixth NBA season ended, and there was still one year left in the contract with his old club, the Timberwolves, who had been at the end of the league for a long time, obviously had no patience. On July 1, the moment the door to the trading market opened, the Jazz recruited Lu Yuanwai with a first-round pick, and to be honest, this chip is indeed a bit cheap. So Yuanwai left the cold Minneapolis, and what awaited him was the welcome of the crazy fans at the Home of the Salt Lake City Devils.
Leaving the bitter cold land of Minnesota, people are also looking forward to Lu Yuanwai's old appearance and a new look. After all, the Jazz are not timberwolves, and Mitchell in the jazz's backcourt at that time has grown into the core of the Jazz's attack, and Rubio's share of the ball in the Jazz cannot be the same as that of the Timberwolves. The decline in ball power has forced a new Lu Yuanwai, and in the jazz's first season, Rubio appeared in 77 regular season games, averaging 13.1 points, 5.3 assists per game, shooting 41.8% from the field, shooting 35.2% from three-point range, scoring per game, shooting percentage and three-point shooting rate all for a new career high, but the number of assists hit a new career low, and the career tasted the playoffs for the first time. A makeover Lu Yuanwai is quietly completing his metamorphosis.
In the 18-19 season, Rubio's contract year averaged 12.7 points and 6.1 assists per game in the regular season, once again helping the Jazz break into the playoffs, and in the five games between the playoffs and the Rockets, he could cut 15.4 points + 8.6 assists + 2.4 steals. His combination with Mitchell and Gobert became the backbone of the Jazz. Lu Yuan, who was originally expected to enter the year when the Jazz entered their own standing year, was told by the Jazz not to renew his contract in the offseason. But Lu Yuanwai, whose playing style is gradually maturing, does not lack suitors. Phoenix became Lu Yuanwai's third stop, and next season, he will be accompanied by young Booker and Ayton.
In the offseason of 2019, when many American NBA stars chose to rest, Lu Yuanwai did not choose to rest, and his other heavy responsibility was to represent Spain in the Men's Basketball World Cup. In 2006, when Spain won the world championship for the first time, Rubio also represented the national youth team, and for more than a decade, Spain has been the most likely to pull the United States down, but has never been able to reach the top again. In 2019, this may be the last chance of Spain's golden generation for Spain, for Rubio, he wants to realize his dream of a world champion. This time Rubio did it, and he led Spain to win consecutive victories and reached the final. In the final, facing the Pampas Eagles Argentina, Spain ushered in a 20-point victory, and the more mature Rubio contributed 20 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, which seemed to make people forget that he was actually a point guard who was better at passing. Spain returned to the top after thirteen years, and Rubio won the MVP trophy with an average of 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6 assists per game, and also entered the best team.
When he was about to enter the new year, Rubio used years of hard work to complete the "redemption of Lu Yuanwai".
Dreaming of the World Cup, the more mature Rubio came to Phoenix. Phoenix was a place of point guards, and from Kidd to Nash to later Dragic, the Suns' management naturally hoped that Rubio would continue the tradition. At this time, although the Suns have young talents led by Book Ayton, the truth is that they have missed the playoffs for ten consecutive years, and Rubio's arrival is more or less of a savior. The Suns this season are truly refreshing, from a winning streak at the beginning of the season to the end of the season, a battle for the last playoff spot with the Blazers and the Grizzlies, and of course, an eight-game winning streak in that rematch. Despite the ultimate defeat, Rubio played a pivotal role in the new Suns squad. This season at the Suns, Rubio averaged 31.7 minutes per game, scoring 13.1 points and 8.9 assists, two statistics almost close to career highs, and the familiar Lu Yuanwai seemed to be back. But 41.2 percent from the field and 35.1 percent from three-point range are close to career highs, and the familiar Lu Yuanwai has completed the upgrade.
On November 17, 2020, less than a month into his own year, a deal for Paul made Rubio a bargain to go to Oklahoma. However, fate is sometimes really magical, and before Rubio can put on the Thunder jersey, his old club who has just entered the NBA will summon the old player. You can say that the creation of people, or you can say that the fate of the reincarnation, Rubio who has been out for three years to return to the old land, this time he has completed the transformation.
Seeing Rubio again, the most impressive thing was the beard on his face, and suddenly realized that Rubio was no longer the golden boy with a green face. Thirty-year-old Rubio, in his own year of establishment, traveled to three cities, revisited the old place, returned to the place where the dream began, waiting for him is the welcome of his old friend, welcome home! Minnesota is cold, but there are warm stories there!
Disclaimer: The picture in this article comes from the network.
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Some people become famous at a young age, and some people become late.
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