After Spending Just One Season With Donovan Mitchell, Ricky Rubio is Walking Away From Basketball

Ricky Rubio was one of my favorite players coming into the 2009 draft. I watched all of his grainy Spanish highlight reels on YouTube. Growing up in New York and having Nets games played locally, I also held a place in my heart for point guards like Jason Kidd who shined in the fastbreak with flashy passes and always drove the ball up the court. Ricky Rubio was the MAN (or young teenager) in Spain.

After almost 14 years of being a quiet professional everywhere he played, Ricky Rubio, at age 32, is deciding to step away from basketball to work on his mental health.

Here’s what Ricky said about his departure:

“I have decided to stop my professional activity to take care of my mental health. I want to thank all the support I have received from the [Spanish national] team to understand my decision. Today #family makes more sense than ever. Thank you. I would ask that my privacy be respected so that I can face these moments and be able to give more information when the time is right.”

You know this was a difficult decision because he was about to lead Spain to another World Cup title after being the MVP of the 2019 World Cup.

But some things are bigger than basketball. Like wanting to get away from his new teammate, Donovan Mitchell.

Last summer, the Cavs traded for Donovan Mitchell from the Utah Jazz and I can’t help but assume that’s the main reason Rubio wants a break from work.

Donovan Mitchell is easily one of the corniest players in the league. From wearing a hoodie with the definition of “rookie” written on it as a way to beg for Rookie of the Year votes over Ben Simmons to one of the lamest dunk contest attempts ever to scoring 71 points and immediately rushing to Twitter to make a wack ass joke about the NBA drug testing him.

Everything Donovan Mitchell says and does is loser-coded.

I know Rubio and Mitchell played a season together in Utah but last year in Cleveland was different. For one, it’s Cleveland. That’s rough on anyone’s mental health.

Plus, Ricky Rubio was been struggling with knee injuries for a couple seasons so I can only imagine how annoying it is to be in and out of the team facility and every time you show up to work, Donovan’s corny ass is like “Did you catch the Mets game??” And you’re like “no, I’m from Spain. I don’t watch baseball and if I did, I’m certainly not watching the Mets”.

I’m glad Rubio is taking a break to focus on his personal life. It’s a shame it took a year of dealing with Spida (even his nickname is lame) in Cleveland.

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