If you had just learned about the NBA and an old fan pointed to the Suns' bearded, long-haired point guard and told you that his nickname was "Golden Boy," what would you think?
You probably first scorned and completely denied, and then carefully considered, what exactly turned him from a golden boy into an uncle?
Old fans will sigh and tell you that this is a story of genius and expectation. On the podium of the Basketball World Cup in the summer of 2019, Rubio, who holds the MVP trophy, can proudly say to himself, to everyone, I have finally caught up with the self who was pinned high hopes.
At the age of 15, he became the youngest player in the Spanish Basketball League; at the age of 16, he competed in the U16 League of the European Championship, where he scored 51 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists and 7 steals in the finals, becoming the champion of points, rebounds, assists and steals, and was named the most valuable player of the tournament and the most valuable player of the finals; at the age of 17, he led the team to the Spanish League championship. He is called the Golden Boy by the Spanish media because of his handsome appearance, his excellent ball skills, and because he is the spark and hope of Spanish basketball. In 2009, Rubio was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 5th pick in the first round, and he became the Timberwolves' hope again.
The timberwolves, who are at the bottom of the quagmire, desperately hope that the golden boy from Europe can save them. Rubio landed in the NBA in 2011, and in this shrinking season of labor disputes, he handed over 10.6 points and 8.2 assists. Not bad for the average fledgling rookie; but not enough for a savior from Europe. In the following seasons, he drifted away from the rubio that people imagined, he just held the painless data, projected no growth, teammates came and went, but still could not touch the threshold of the playoffs.
Veteran teammate Kevin Love left to follow LeBron James and fulfilled his championship dream at the Cleveland Cavaliers; the two champions andrew Wiggins and Carl Antoni Downs established the core of the future, leaving the aging Rubio at a loss. In the NBA, which enters a new era, point guards who do not have the ability to score are struggling. Finally, in 2017, the Timberwolves sent him to the Utah Jazz, and the once golden boy seemed to become a story of injury, and people's attention finally gradually dissipated. In his short two years at Salt Lake City, Rubio played the strongest offensive season of his career, but this was only a drop in the bucket of 13.1 points, and his career high usage rate brought a new career low PER. With the Grizzlies trading Mike Conley to the Jazz, the Jazz no longer have a place for Rubio. In 2019, Rubio, whose contract expired, switched to the Suns and left the Jazz, whose playing style was limited, and some thought he would make a new start at the Suns, while others thought the Suns tour was the beginning of his wandering career. Just when the young hero completely fell into the ordinary, Rubio finally proved himself on the other side of the world, on the stage of the national team, and proved that he was still the wind-chasing teenager.
In all eight games won by Spain, he averaged the highest average of 14.6 points and 6 assists per game. In the finals, he scored a team-high 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists. On the night of the championship, he took the trophy from basketball star Kobe Bryant, not only the World Cup champion, but also the World Cup Most Valuable Player.
Once a handsome teenager with the same wind, to now the stubble-faced team fixed the sea god needle, read a thousand sails, here the young sighed, the trophy in his hand was changed, life has been thirteen years, but want to prove that he has caught up with the teenager who once had high hopes.