In 2015, I moved into a new apartment in downtown Minneapolis, not far from the Timberwolves' home stadium, and I enjoyed it there. In the morning, when the morning fog cleared, I looked down and could see the Mississippi River. My apartment is not small, but it is not too big. I'm sure it has 2 bedrooms, so every time my parents come to visit me, there's always room for them to stay.
That summer, my parents came to see me from Spain. Since I came to this country in 2011, they have come several times a year. Usually they come over to see my game or celebrate the holidays together. We visit Minneapolis and St. Paul like tourists. I took them to the Art Museum and my favorite restaurants, and places like malls of America. We always had a great time, as if on vacation.
On this special trip, we are leaving the downtown area, which is a long drive away. Like most road trips, I traveled with my parents. We listened to the music and enjoyed our time. Sometimes they would tell me anecdotes about my friends and relatives in my hometown. Sometimes they would fall silent, and then, anyway, my dad would start telling stories about my childhood. My father loved it, and he loved to tell stories about me, especially those I had already heard.
This time, he's telling the story of how I made the choice between football and basketball. I was 10 years old at the time, and my mom asked me to choose between the two projects, and I chose football. Football is the most popular sport and I'm better at it. But my father's favorite was basketball — he was actually the coach of a women's basketball team in his hometown. So basketball is where his passion lies. I knew that the fact that I was going to give up basketball would disappoint him a little. But a few weeks later, I didn't have a lot of calls with football, and I missed basketball too.
So, I found my mother.
I told her I had made a very bad decision and that I wanted to go back to the basketball court.
I remember saying "it's not easy" – because their money was already spent on football.
"You can't change your mind during the season," she told me.
My father works at a local sports club in EI Masnou. So he asked the employees there if there was anything they could do to get me to join one of the basketball teams. Joining a team after the start of the season is usually not allowed. But the staff told my father that if he was willing to work for an extra few hours for the club, they would let me play. My father didn't even think about the offer, and I was willing to go back to his favorite sport, which made him proud. Although he had a lot of work in his own right, he accepted additional tasks. To this end, his mother had to help him with his chores at home.
My parents, my family, that's my team. It's always been like that, and I love them.
15 years after I gave up soccer and chose basketball, I took them on a road trip in Minnesota.
Two hours later, we arrived at our destination: the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
We waited in a small room for the doctor's arrival. This scenario is not new to us – 3 years ago, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. In 2012, cancer cells appeared in her lungs. We remained optimistic, and I knew she could overcome that, and I had to believe it. This is my mom, you know? She's my superhero. I've seen her prop up a family, I've seen her work hard and then take her son to soccer and basketball training that follows.
She was battling cancer, and as my dad said, "Let's fight it together, as a family." ”
Now we are back in the hospital. The doctor came in, and before he could speak, we understood. We just got it, you can read this from his face. We've been through too many such checks, too many rooms like this, too many meetings like this. At this moment, we can see what is in his eyes, and in 2012, when his mother was first diagnosed, the doctor at that time also had this look in his eyes.
This time the doctor said the cancer had returned again — and it had spread quickly.
It's terrible.
I held my mother's hand tightly, and we hugged each other tightly.
On the way home, my father did not tell any stories.
That night, I discovered some secrets about my apartment.
Its walls are too thin.
I heard my parents cry all night and couldn't sleep almost all night, and neither could I. I don't know how to express my feelings in words, I don't know. I just wanted my mom to feel better, but I was overwhelmed, I was so confused.
The next day, I didn't want to go near the basketball court at all.
A part of me had been broken that night. My life changed forever. That part was my mother.
I had a grudge against that apartment.
Then four years ago, in 2011, I had an apartment in Los Angeles.
I liked that the apartment, it was close to the beach. That summer, the NBA was shut down just before I started my first season with the Timberwolves. Before the shutdown dispute resolution, I rented a small apartment so that I could train every day and enjoy the weather.
My agent told me there was a temporary organized match and that other professional players were also participating, so I went. The first time I went, the race was in progress. I saw KG, Paul Pierce, Paul George, Danny Granger... I have long admired the great names of these people. They let me play with them that day. That summer, I was as involved as possible.
Sometimes, when I talk to my friends back home about those games, they ask me if I was scared. Yes, maybe a little. At the same time, I was also thinking that maybe everyone forgot 2008 and forgot about the Spanish team. They don't remember how good we were in the Spanish national team. We reached the final of the Olympics when I was 17, 17! We lost to the United States, but they were a dream team... Kobe Bryant, LeBron, Wade, and a whole bunch of good players.
So in 2011, I felt like I already knew how to play at that level. I joined those L.A games in order to prove like those people that I could be one of them. I believe that everything that happens in life has a reason – the shutdown gives me the opportunity to play against the best players in the world to test my abilities.
That's why I got to know KG.
After a game of wildball, I remember him coming up to me.
"Ricky!!!! Boy, I heard you were going to Minnesota, right? ”
I nodded.
I think he knows my English is not too good. I was quiet.
KG has been talking about Minnesota and that team. He said, "Dude, let me tell you, now this place, L.A., isn't bad, right?" But believe me, you go to Minnesota.... Are you giving everything you have for the people there? Believe me, they will give you equal rewards, believe me! Believe me! ”
I can't believe a player like KG — an NBA champion, a superstar — is talking to me and he knows my story.
I believe!
I always remember that day. Later, I learned what Timberwolves fans already knew — KG was telling the truth, and his view of the Timberwolves was right, and his view of the fans was also right. After the shutdown, it was time to report to the team's training camp. I don't know much about the NBA — just some basic things like how long a season is and some of the differences between its rules and the rules of international basketball.
I know the Timberwolves only won 15 and 17 games in the two seasons before I arrived. I understand that this grade is not good. But for me, it's a new starting point in a new league, or in a new country. I remember the 2011-12 season opener... It was unbelievable, unbelievable. Both my parents came to the target center. I was a substitute for that game and when I was ready to play, I remember people shouting my name.
I was able to find our parents in the crowd. My mother—I could see her face. I remember her face filled with a warm and proud smile.
My family is my team.
Midway through the season, I had a torn front cruciate and collateral ligament against the Lakers. In 2012, I spent the summer recovering, and my mother was diagnosed with cancer this summer. In the two years since, we have experienced many difficult times. For the Timberwolves, we were infinitely close to a turnaround, but in the end it didn't happen. Due to the misfortune suffered by my mother who was far away in Spain, it was sometimes difficult for me to stay focused on the pitch. Not everyone knows what happened at the time, but for those who do, my family will always remember them. Minnesota people are so friendly and so supportive of us. The fans, the staff, my teammates – everyone who did everything in their power to help me after learning about my mother's situation. Their hearts are tied to this. I will always remember this.
Philip Sanders is one of those people.
In 2014, Coach Phillip returned to the Timberwolves and I also met him and his son Ryan. Their families are full of love. They are simply the embodiment of the best side of Minnesota. In 2015, we selected Carl Anthony Downs with a top pick, and Philip called me. He wanted me to train with Downs in the summer.
I ended my vacation and started training with Downs. On the first day of practice, Coach Philippe made an appearance in the last few minutes. We were doing some exercises and I saw him standing on the sideline with a hat with the brim pulled low and he looked emaciated, really emaciated. I went over to greet him and said it was nice to meet him. After training, he pulled me into his office.
He had Hodgkin lymphoma.
He underwent chemotherapy that summer.
I didn't know what to say, so I said, "Philip, you look pretty good. ”
I'm serious. But I don't know if I've spoken my heart. Philip looked pale and skinny.
That day, we talked for a while. I told him what had happened to my mother, and he told me about the chemotherapy and about the Mayo Clinic, which I recommended to my mother. Philip asked about everything about her and how I was coping with it. He made us all forget about his own struggles, even for a few minutes. He never tried to turn the conversation back to himself. Philip was such a person.
Three days before that season started, we were in Los Angeles preparing for a game against the Lakers. The staff called us for a meeting.
Philip died.
Everyone in the team had a heavy heart. It was a dark day. I thought of my mother, at that time, her cancer had returned, and she was fine, but I was terrified when I thought of Philip......... The last time I saw him, I didn't know he was in such a bad situation.
I called my dad and asked him to tell me the truth about my mother's prognosis. I want to know what she's going through. The 2015-16 season was underway, but I told him I would fly home if he needed it.
That season was hellish, with too many ups and downs, and more bad than good. To keep up to date, I called my father almost every day. Sometimes he had to hang up the phone because my mother wasn't feeling well, or he needed to cook for her, or she was going to vomit.
I felt so far away from her that after a race, I was in a hotel in a certain city and I thought, Oh my God, what am I doing here? I should be with her.
During that year's All-Star vacation, I booked a ticket home, which was only 4 days, and it was a 17-hour journey, but I had to. I remember thinking about Coach Philip and I knew he would understand why I had to go back.
When my mother opened the door, I saw her face... It's the best feeling in the world. My father told me that my arrival was the best medicine for her. I could see her suffering, and I tried my best to hold her hand and sit with her in front of her bed for a long time. I didn't want to let go, and she told me she wasn't leaving.
A day later, I had to fly back.
It was more than two months before the season was over and I completed my task on the pitch. But it was too hard, and my heart was already drifting away. I miss my mother all the time and fly home after our last game of the season.
My mother died a few weeks later.
When your loved one dies, it's like there's a fog hanging over you, and that's when I feel like I'm lost. Every year when I return to Timberwolves for bootcamp, I start each day in the same way: video chatting with my mother. In the first season after her death, I woke up in the morning thinking of calling her, which made me want to drop my phone. But I can't delete her number, and even sometimes I text her. I still do this, and after a while I feel like I'm going crazy, it's like I'm talking to myself.
For most of the year that followed, I was furious, I blamed a lot of things, I blamed basketball, and I blamed the people around me because of my feelings, and I was full of resentment about everything.
I suffered from depression.
After that, the way I looked at basketball changed, and the way I looked at life changed. I feel like everything doesn't matter that much anymore. You know, like, we're just playing a game... Sometimes, escaping from here, escaping from basketball, and forgetting something is a relief for me. This approach will not work forever. I felt like I was doing my best to tread water, but eventually drowned. I don't know how to explain it, and I don't know how to get over it alone. When I finally went to seek help— to consult a psychologist — I found the antidote.
I also draw energy from my friends, my dads, brothers, sisters. They made me find myself, the role I've always been— the mom's child.
They know that even if our mother is dead, we can still be close to her.
I remember what I said to my mom once when we were driving back from the Mayo Clinic.
The only thing she wanted to do in her life was to bring joy to others. When I was a kid, when friends came to visit, she would always ask me what their favorite food was, and then he would make it for dinner. She's that kind of person.
After hearing more bad news, our journey back to Minneapolis was a little different, and I told her something important: I told her, and I now believe that no matter what she's going through, we're going to help a lot of people with similar suffering.
I promised her.
In 2017, I rented a house in Salt Lake City.
I just moved in and lived with my close friends, and a few weeks ago I was traded from timberwolves to Sir Utah.
Everything that happens is justified.
I love Minnesota, and I still love him, that place, those people, they'll stay in my heart forever.
I mean, trust, like KG said.
Utah gave me another chance to start again. This season the team can advertise on the jersey, which is the first time for me and the entire NBA. The Jazz's jerseys are stamped with the 5 for the fight logo, and I learned it's a charity that studies cancer.
There are arrangements in the dark.
I met Ryan Smith, CEO of Qualtric — exactly — the company helped make the logo appear on our jerseys — and I asked him about the different funds and how I could set up my own. Just the beginning, I visited several different hospitals in Utah with my father that year, including the Huntsman Cancer Institute. We saw a lot of kids and I saw a lot of smiles. I think it makes more sense to me and my father than it does to those children themselves. On our way home that day, my father spoke out what we had in common.
"Mom is here with us today," he told me, "and she'll be proud of us." ”
A year later, I founded my fund, the Ricky Rubio Fund, in my mom's name.
I wanted to build a foundation that would make everyone feel like it was for them. I want to make the most of my influence as an NBA player to bring more laughter to others and raise funds to solve social problems. I don't want to lie here, the smiles of the children I see in the hospital really motivate me to move forward. That's how I get content, and I know that's what Mom used to want to do, and now, she's with me.
Today, I'm no longer 21 years old, not what I was when I first arrived in Minnesota. Back then, when my mother was still alive, I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish as a player. One of them is to use my influence and platform to help those in need. There are some things on the list that I already have the ability to accomplish, and some that I don't have.
Among the unfinished businesses, there's a line to "win the next NBA championship."
I'm still fighting for it. Now I'm in the Phoenix Suns. Another new city, another new apartment, and many more new challenges. We are a young team with unlimited potential. Good things grind more. We will succeed. So, let me finish before answering your question.
Another thing on the list is "winning the World Cup with the Spanish national team"
This summer, our national team won the FIBA World Cup in China. I sincerely hope that my mother will see this for herself. It's incredible to see how basketball is so closely connected to life in that land. I've been an admirer of Spanish basketball since I was a kid and being part of the national team and achieving that is really special to me. 11 years after the 2008 Olympics, I was chosen as MVP and Kobe Bryant presented me with an award, and I felt like I was done with a round of life.
For me, basketball is crucial. But I know I can influence the world in other ways. I know I have a lot more to do. Of course, one of those things is still the child of the mother.
Every day, I try to do something that will make her proud.
It was what she deserved.
We are a team.
We are always together.
I love you, mom.