The Cleveland Cavaliers player, Ricky Rubio, was the protagonist of the last session of the Vanguard Forums season ‘Basketball with soul’, which he took the opportunity to talk about the important work he does with his Foundation, especially all the programs to accompany children who are fighting cancer.
The Catalan point guard also talked about all the social projects he has underway, for the social integration of young people in vulnerable situations and also in the fight against lung cancer that took his mother, Tona, in 2016. A commitment social that he had inside but that did not materialize until this tragic event. “I had gone to various social events with the clubs in which I have played since I was very young and I always thought about doing something on my own, but I thought that I would have time to do it. Then reality hit me. My mother got cancer and she was very generous and she always talked about how unfair it was that we could go to the United States to treat ourselves and others couldn’t,” he recalled.
Two years after losing his mother, Ricky Rubio created his Foundation and since then he has not stopped giving visibility to various causes. “Public figures can do a lot with little: a hug, a video, a signed shirt… Life has given me this speaker to help others,” he confessed.
The death of his mother plunged the athlete into a deep crisis for which he was even about to quit basketball: “I couldn’t call it depression because they never diagnosed me with anything, but it was a call. I couldn’t sleep at night but during the day I kept playing,” he recalled. A tough stage from which he came out reinforced thanks to the internal work he has been doing all these years: “When I came to the NBA I was a child in a world of adults. I have worked a lot. Being in the media spotlight all day is difficult and meditation helps me a lot with it”.
The El Masnou player acknowledged that the team sees him “as a weirdo” because of his social commitment, but stressed that in the NBA “mental health is increasingly being given more voice.” “All of us in the NBA, being so young and with so much fame, want to pretend: who has the most beautiful house, the biggest car… and that doesn’t matter, and until you realize it, a while passes. Some never realize it. We don’t realize that sometimes we hurt children by wanting to pretend. We live in a society that thinks more about how we look at others when what is really important is how we see ourselves, ”he reflected.
He also spoke about racism in sport: “It is a very serious issue. Many times we take it as a joke and I think we don’t give it enough importance”. “Until it touches you, you are not aware, but racism will not touch you if you are of a certain color. That is why those who are suffering have to raise their voices and the rest of us have to support them, ”he declared.
The 32-year-old point guard has just returned after a long period off the slopes due to a serious knee injury that has forced him to work hard on his mental aspect. A journey in which he was always clear that he would come back stronger: “That’s what I’ve worked for. I never thought of not going back. We designed a perfect plan to return and we have strictly complied with it, ”he opened up.
After missing the European Championship due to his injury, Ricky Rubio will be at the World Cup that starts on August 25 in Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. The Catalan player assumes the weight of him in the team, but shies away from prominence. “I don’t think there is only one leader,” he confessed before stating that “regardless of who goes, Spain has proven to be a team.” “You work very well from the base to have an identity and it shows,” explained a Ricky Rubio who promises that Spain will “compete” in the World Cup. “We’re going to win, I don’t know if we’ll make it, but we’ll compete”, he asserted before praising coach Sergio Scariolo: “What surprised me the most was the evolution he’s had with the national team. He is a better person, he has had many details with the players, he has understood very well what the Spanish federation is and we are delighted with him”.
Rubio also spoke about Mirotic and the FC Barcelona season: “Three years seems like a lot but it’s not much. If you want to win a Euroleague you have to have a solid project and for it to work you have to be patient. I understand that when spending a lot of money, results are demanded, but we can debate if two ACBS are enough successes. My personal opinion is that Mirotic has played at an exceptional level and has had a great stage in the years that he has been at Barça but the Euroleague was the ‘because’ and it has not been achieved. But a Euroleague does not stop being won by a player, it is a whole team, ”he pointed out.
Finally, Rubio spoke about his future, confirming that his return home is imminent: “When my son starts primary school, I will return. We want to raise our family in the place where we want to live our whole lives, which is here.” He did not want to go into more detail about his destination, but he joked that Real Madrid would never be an option: “My wife would not leave me after so many years of moving”, and assured that it would be close to home: “Leaving Catalonia for sure no”.
