On December 29, Beijing time, in the Cavaliers' game against the Pelicans, Cavaliers guard Rubio fell to the ground in pain after a breakthrough layup, and tightly covered his left knee, and then was directly helped into the dressing room by his teammates, before that, Rubio has cut 27 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks of quasi-triple-double data, and led the Cavaliers to firmly control the game situation. It can be said that the rise of the Cavaliers this season is completely inseparable from Rubio's excellent performance, the Spanish Golden Boy can not only serve as a traditional point guard, conscientiously comb the team's offense, but also strengthen his personal offense, this season has scored high points many times, averaging 12.6 points per game. With 3.9 rebounds and 6.6 assists, the Cavaliers have discussed the possibility of an early extension to Rubio, and management believes he can still play at a high level and consider letting him stay with the team next season.
But it was during the critical phase of his second spring in his career that Rubio suffered an injury that would have cost him farewell to the NBA: a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. In fact, for a floor-flowing, brain-pumping point guard like Rubio, this injury has not yet reached the point where he bid farewell to the NBA, but fans familiar with him may know that this is the second time in Rubio's career that he has been torn by a left knee anterior cruciate ligament, the first time dating back to the 2012 game against the Lakers. In history, there are only two players who have suffered two tears in the position of the anterior cruciate ligament in the left knee: Michael Reed, and Jabari Parker, who was once pinned high hopes by the Bucks, the more familiar latter, directly from the home star of the Bucks to the "tramp" who has traveled from multiple teams.
But Parker is young after all, and he is only 26 years old until now. And Rubio will be 32 years old soon, and the fastest time to come back is more than 33 years old, age + body + psychology, these are a huge stumbling block on the road to Rubio's comeback, and the advance appointment discussed within the Cavaliers may also become an empty basket. Thompson, who also suffered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, can be described as sympathetic to the disease, and he also sent a blessing to Rubio for the first time:
"Pray for @Riki Rubio. Hates seeing players get hurt. Get a speedy recovery for my buddy. ”
And Rubio, if he wants to stay in the NBA, wait for his comeback. I am afraid that I can only accept the contract of the veteran's base salary, and may not be able to ensure that my performance can return to the previous level, so it seems that choosing a European league with more money and less close to home may be a better choice, compared to the NBA, the Europa League is less competitive, and the contract offered to Rubio is definitely greater than his salary when he returned.
In any case, the injury of any athlete is something we don't want to see, but in the fight against the fierce NBA, this situation is inevitable, just hope that the increasingly developed medical technology can help the Spanish Golden Boy recover better, come on!