Spanish international Ricky Rubio announced this Saturday that he has decided to stop his professional activities in order to take care of his mental health, in a statement released by the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB).
“I have decided to stop my professional activities in order to take care of my mental health. I want to thank all the support I received from FEB for understanding my decision. Today #LaFamilia makes more sense than ever. Thank you. I would like to ask that my privacy be respected in order to confront these moments and be able to provide more information when the time comes,” Rubio points out in the text.
FEB also expressed in it “their respect, admiration and affection for Ricky Rubio” and assured that “LaFamilia will always be there for the player.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers point guard was one of five players expelled by Spanish coach Sergio Scariolo due to the Spanish team’s friendly against Venezuela in Madrid (87-57) in preparation for the World Championship to be held in Madrid. Philippines, Japan and Indonesia, which will be held from August 25 to September 2.
Rubio, who returned to the pitch in January last year after being out of action for over a year with an ACL injury in his left knee, has been focusing on preparations for the World Cup in Madrid since July 27 with the national team.
Following the team’s presentation that day, the Barcelona man assured that he returned to the team “with a great desire to train” and play in the new World Cup after being selected as the MVP of the 2019 Chinese edition. when Spain was crowned against Argentina.
Also recently, before joining the national team, the point guard admitted that while he still has a contract with the American Cleveland franchise, his time in the NBA is “running out” and he is still considering a comeback. to Europe, although this will depend on his physical condition and mind.
“I was there for twelve years and my idea when I left was to play in Europe again, I don’t know what situation I will be in physically and mentally, and if I want to play, but hey, my NBA stage is coming to an end” , he said on June 10 when he attended the Endes League semi-final match between his former side Joventut and Real Madrid.
Rubio was born in El Masnou, Barcelona (October 21, 1990). He has been playing in the NBA since 2011, where he joined after playing for Juventut and Barcelona in the ACB, where he was part of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah. Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers, which he joined in 2021 while participating in the Tokyo Olympics.
Months later, his career came to an abrupt end on December 28, 2021, when he sprained his left knee in the final stretch of the fourth period of a game between the Cavaliers and the New Orleans Pelicans, resulting in a torn ACL.
The injury kept him out for over a year and missed the EuroBasket 2022 in which Spain won the title by defeating France in the final. He returned to the courts on January 13 in a 113-119 Blazers game in which he scored 9 points, 3 rebounds and an assist in 10 minutes on the court.
His presence in Spain’s squad for the next World Cup was one of the main innovations on Scariolo’s list, who defined him as “one of the best in the team, who continues to be fully efficient, who has important commitments, who has months of work to do”. get to concentration in good condition.”
Formed in the youth ranks of El Masnou Basketball and the lower divisions of Joventut de Badalona, Rubio was the youngest player to feature in an ACB match, aged 14 years, eleven months and twenty-four days, on 15 October. 2005.
In July 2018, he introduced the “Ricky Rubio Foundation” with the aim of helping the most vulnerable children and young people (without funds or the disabled), and to fight and prevent cancer, the disease from which his mother died in May 2016. , aged 56, after trying to beat lung cancer since 2012.
In 2019, he made a documentary about a child with cancer and basketball player Mataro, and the following year he opened a new emergency room for cancer patients at Can Ruti Hospital in Badalona (Barcelona). For his philanthropic work, in November 2021, the NBA honored him with the NBA Cares Community Assist Award.
