Ricky Rubio is now playing for FC Barcelona again. The world and European champion is thus returning to his roots – but it is still unclear when he will be on the pitch
At the beginning of January, Rubio declared the end of his NBA career after twelve years and over 700 games. At the same time, the 33-year-old made his mental problems public and received a lot of encouragement for doing so. Now he is returning to his home country. As FC Barcelona announced, the point guard will not only take part in the team’s training sessions, he has also been given a one-game suspension until the end of the season.
However, it remains to be seen if and when Rubio will actually play a game in the Spanish ACB or even in the Euroleague, for which he has been re-registered. The club wants to give the returnee, who has won the World Cup once and the European Championship twice with the national team, time. Rubio will play “when he is ready”, according to a statement. According to Marca, the contract is completely flexible: Both sides can opt out of it, there are no obligations on the part of the player.
Rubio’s career at FC Barcelona really took off in the early 2010s. In addition to the Euroleague title in 2010, he also celebrated a Spanish championship, three cup wins and two Super Cup titles in the Catalans’ jersey.
Rubio went to the NBA in 2011 and wore the Minnesota Timberwolves jersey for six years. He later also played for the Utah Jazz, the Phoenix Suns and, after an interlude with the Timberwolves, for the Cleveland Cavaliers, from whom he finally retired in January. At the time, Rubio also announced that he wanted to help other athletes with mental health problems
