Ricky Rubio and the Cleveland Cavaliers have reached an agreement to terminate his contract, the ESPN network announced this Thursday and the protagonist himself confirmed shortly after through a statement. “My career in the NBA has come to an end. It all started in June 2009, during the night of the draft in New York (…) I have accumulated many experiences and personal relationships (…) I want to have a special memory for Cleveland, my last home,” the point guard wrote.
Ricky Rubio’s statement begins in a sincere and raw way: “July 30 was one of the hardest nights of my life, my mind went to a very dark place. I knew I was heading towards something like this but I never had the feeling.” of not having the situation under control. The next day I decided to stop my professional career. (…) I am proud to say that now I am much better and that I am improving day by day.”
“If Rubio continues his professional career, it will probably be where he started as a 14-year-old prodigy: in his native Spain,” said Wojnarowski, one of the journalists with the best sources in the NBA when advancing the news. As La Vanguardia has learned, Barça has a preferential option over El Masnou in the event of returning to Europe since he left for the NBA in 2011.
On December 20, Shams Charania, another journalist with very good sources in the NBA, assured on The Athletic portal that the Spanish point guard and the Cavaliers were negotiating the player’s departure. That departure had to do with the Cavaliers’ need to make new signings after injuries to important players like Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.
Charania then maintained that Ricky Rubio is not expected to play again this season and that there are doubts as to whether he will return to competition. Rubio signed a three-year, $18.4 million contract with the Cavaliers in 2022.
At 33 years old, the point guard has great consideration and respect from the Cleveland team, which he arrived in 2021 to provide seniority and experience to a team with a lot of young talent.
In December 2021 he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he was going through a great moment of form. After returning to the courts in January 2023, Rubio abandoned the training camp with Spain for the Basketball World Cup this August to take care of his mental health.
