Ricky Rubio he finalizes his vacation after a convulsive course. In the same year he will have gone through four teams in the NBA and he lived in the first person, and as one of the most outstanding players, the goodbye to a golden chapter of the selection in the Olympic Games. Always reflective, the one Masnou, now completely dumped with its campus in the Girona town of El Collell, confesses to MARK you want stability. Studying his future, when the time comes, slowly with his family, his great priority.
Question. It’s been three weeks since the Olympics. How have you digested the role of the Spanish team?
Answer. It has been a special summer because we know that for many it has been the last year. After many dances, the last one always costs a bit. It is nostalgic. The result was not what we expected either. Playing against the USA in the quarter-finals is difficult, but I ended up with very good individual feelings and this gives you motivation to continue and face a season with a lot of uncertainty, change, but with enthusiasm.
Q. How do you see the future of Spain after so many changes?
R. For many years they have been talking about how the selection will be in the future, but the successes are continuing. In these Games, reaching a few rooms is not easy. I think there is a future and things are doing well in the Federation. Young people are coming out, people who were in the preparation and did not pass the final cut, but who have a future in the selection.
There is a future in the national team, things are being done well in the Federation. Young people are coming out, people who were in the preparation and did not pass the final cut, but who have a future
Q. Has this team spoiled the fans?
R. Yes, the truth is that it has been a generation where if you did not have a medal it was already a failure. And sometimes the bronze one already knew little. We know how hard it is to get to the podium. We have been in many semi-finals in a row and this costs a lot. It is something that will value over time. We hope to continue with success, but above all with family success, which I think is the great secret of the team.
Q. And you, do you see yourself in the selection?
R. Every summer I study it. This summer, in fact, I had many doubts and even said no, but I am not going to assure you that I do not until the time comes. I believe that many circumstances can happen in a short time and in a year, which can be a lot or a little depending on how you see it, but many things can happen. Until the day comes when the coach has to give the list, as has happened this summer. At first he said no and then yes. Affirming something a month or a year before is very difficult and I’m going to take my time.
Every summer I study if I go to the selection. This summer in fact I had many doubts and even said no, but I will not say that I do not until the time comes.
P. Also at the NBA level it has been tough. He has gone through four teams: Suns, Oklahoma, where he did not make his debut, Timberwolves and Cleveland. How have you lived it?
R. I’m a little tired of so much change. In the end, a player like me who likes stability, especially now that I have a family that, off the court, I also need it. Tired a bit. But in the end, I’ve been in the NBA for ten years and I know how it works.
Q. How is this course planned then?
R. Seeking not so much change, but getting to know the team, the teammates, the coach’s system … This takes time. In a year it is not enough to adapt to it, but we know that we live in a professional world that is like that and one must adapt.
When you have a son, the world is no longer yours, he commands
P. Has fatherhood been the final click to bet on stability?
R. When you have a child, the world is no longer yours: he rules. It is true that when you think about the balance there are things that did not exist before, that is why you have to reflect on everything well. That’s why I thought about it so much at the Olympics, for spending time with the family. It is something that in the last year we have all made a great sacrifice. They have taken many trips to be together, but in a world where there is a pandemic it is not easy.
Q. Is it possible to get used to so many changes?
R. In the end you work on it and it is a matter of being mentally prepared for this. But everything takes time. There are moments where everyone goes through some things that only oneself knows and you must think, evaluate and listen to yourself what you want and where you are going.
P. It is clear that your situation is different this season. What are you waiting for?
R. Well first, listen, attend a team where I don’t know much. At the Olympics they change me and it is to understand a little, not a change of chip, but each franchise works differently. It’s a bit of learning again. I haven’t been to either the team or Cleveland. To be intense at the beginning, but I hope I can adapt as I have done in the other teams.
P. Your signing seems, among other things, a bet to help a young dressing room.
R. I have no problem with that, I have been in the NBA for ten years and I know how a veteran locker room or a young one works. One that has reached the playoffs and has reached the first round and other things. This does not scare me. I want to start seeing how my role will be there.
Now I have to listen and attend to a team that I don’t know much about, each franchise works differently. It’s a bit of learning again. I haven’t been with the team or in Cleveland
Q. Be a free agent next year. Do you have a decision made?
R. If I don’t think about the selection, if I’m going to go or not, because a year seems like a lot to me … My future will depend a lot on how this year works. We’ll see when it’s over. So I will take my time to decide how to continue my professional career.
Q. It is then the most decisive year for your future?
R. Each year has its what and its things. In the end, I don’t take it as a special course in that sense. It is one more season, but right now it is the most important because it is now. I have always tried to focus on the present. Now I have a campaign with a very big challenge in a very young team, with a lot of project, but that needs the pieces to fit together for this to work. I am an important piece to grease them all.
In one year to be a free agent, then see the market value I have and my options
Q. So I am not asking you about the possibility of returning to Europe.
R. I don’t even think about it. When the time comes for the season to end I will be a free agent and see my options, how I have played and the market value that I have. We will value it together with my family to take the next step.
Q. Who sees the ring as a favorite this year?
R. It is still early. On paper the Lakers have strengthened a lot, Brooklyn, which had many injuries, already has the players recovered and will be fearsome, the Bucks will defend the ring, Phoenix will want to continue with its progression, Utah that after finishing first had a bad second round. .. There are many. In theory it seems that they are all very good, but when the dance starts it is the most important thing.