Miami (EFE).- When Ricky Rubio was transferred to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2021, the man from El Masnou was focused on the Spanish National Team playing the Tokyo Olympics. Fed up with changing teams in the past two years, he asked his agent for a commitment from the franchise that they would release him in December if things didn’t work out.
Not only did it work, but Ricky’s incidence in the team’s improvement was total, with a role from the bench, but acting as a mentor to many young players with a very promising future.
“Yeah, he’s definitely one of our mentors, one of our veterans. I pay close attention to him, I listen to what he says. I try to follow him as much as I can ”, Evan Mobley, with whom he has a special harmony, comments to EFE.
Not everything is what happens on the pitch, there are details that are learned from authoritative and experienced voices like his: “What he talks to you about the most is basketball, but he also refers to little things off the court, like learning the names of the referees, things like that. Issues that really help you improve your game.”
“You want to listen to him, improve with his advice”
Someone who already had him as a mentor in the Utah Jazz and now shares a dressing room with Ricky again, is Donovan Mitchell.
“He is still a mentor to me. And he is doing it with all these guys: Garland, Mobley… I think the best part of all this is that they receive him very well, he is someone who has been in the league for many years, you want to listen to him, improve with his advice, “he said.
The Mitchell of five years ago is the Garland of today, and they all have in common the fact that they grew up alongside Rubio:
“I think you can see the growth of each of the players on this team, and Ricky has a lot of merit in that. Also the coaching staff, but he comes to talk to you, especially when he was injured and he told you what he saw, you got into his mind, in his way of seeing it. It is a great help, ”he said.
With Ricky’s role within these successful Cavs, the coach’s responsibility to mature his young talents is also assumed by the point guard of the Spanish National Team. JB Bickerstaff is clear about it, and also the influence of his veteran on the good progress of the team.
Be a professional
“We had a great start last season, he was one of the big reasons why we succeeded so quickly. He shows our youth what professionalism is. He shows them how to think in a match, how to be at your best regardless of your ability. He brings his spirit to us and takes it with him. I have not met anyone with that ability to improve those around them, ”says the Cavaliers coach.
His influence would not be complete if he did not add to the track, and having him available after his injury is a differentiating factor compared to last season: “We miss him a lot, he is extremely important to us. The more relevant the game we have before us, the greater the influence Ricky can have, because the team trusts him”, admits Bickerstaff.
Apart from the numbers, which will improve as the games go by, what does not change is his reading of the game and intelligence on the floor.
“Ricky is that guy who, entering the last room, approaches me, talks to me and tells me things. I value it a lot. On the court we discussed how we have seen the players in different positions, where to look, what decision to make. Different things that allow you to get better shots or better find teammates. We want that veteran presence on the track, in the locker room. It makes our lives easier,” Mitchell said.
Anderson Varejao, Cavaliers legend and current franchise ambassador and advisor to the team’s coaching staff, explains, from a veteran’s perspective, what Ricky Rubio means to this team with so much young talent.
“Ricky is a fundamental player for us in every way. Because of what he adds on the track but also because of how he can help develop young players, ”says the Brazilian, who is in charge of player development for the Ohio franchise.
After his serious injury, the months of March and April have a clear objective for Ricky Rubio, and Varejao defines it: “It is difficult to return, it is not to press a button and start playing. When you start you are fresh because you don’t have wear and tear, but when you enter the dynamics of the team with trips, games and training sessions, that’s when it starts to weigh you down. The important thing is that he gets to the ‘Playoffs’ well, he doesn’t have to be in a hurry”.