If, as the proverb says, he who sows reaps, one could conclude that Ricky Rubio has sown a lot and good. “If Ricky smiles, all of Spain smiles and I even more,” Juancho Hernangómez, a teammate of the El Masnou point guard (33) summarized yesterday these days in Zaragoza, where the Spanish team remains focused to debut in the qualifying phase for Eurobasket 2025 tonight against Latvia (8 p.m.) at Prince Felipe.
Ten months after his last official game, played with the Cleveland Cavaliers jersey on April 23, Ricky Rubio will compete again, and that is a source of satisfaction for the world of basketball and sports in general. “Yes, we will count on him,” confirmed Sergio Scariolo, Spanish coach, after the Family training session, closing the space for speculation. Ricky will play against Latvia.
As has happened in the last two weeks in Barcelona, where his return is eagerly awaited – aiming for Friday, March 1 against Monaco in the Euroleague – the player has rejoined the national team's discipline with all the normality in the world. , as if he had never left. His teammates have welcomed him with open arms and what can we say about the coach, happy to see Ricky in action again, having overcome the mental problems that precisely forced him to leave the Family discipline on August 5. “We hope that he will be a good leader (...) but little by little, with calm and patience, take advantage of the opportunities to score, but without stressing or anxiety, especially because he still has time left,” highlighted Scariolo, who has seen his player “better than I expected, but it is clear that he still has weeks left.”
Although he is one of the team's veterans, we must not forget that he has won up to seven medals defending the colors of Spain, three of them gold, these days Ricky Rubio has the sensations of a beginner, as if without everything he was starting over again. “I'm nervous, almost like a rookie again, but the truth is that I was very excited to return to the national team, which was where I left off,” he admitted in statements to the Federation, which tries to pamper him and protect everything he can, as expected.
All the voices that have emerged, in public and private, both from Barcelona and Zaragoza in recent weeks and days have highlighted the good condition of Ricky Rubio. An extreme that the player himself has confirmed: “I feel very good, honestly, incredible, the truth is that he was missed.”
The last reflection of the one from El Masnou, on his recovery process in recent months, confirms that his return has been a breath of fresh air for the basket: “I have not felt alone at any time, he has been a very great support both of the national team as well as Cleveland at the time and the world of basketball in general, and that has also helped me a lot in such a difficult moment.”
