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NBA

02/20/2012 ESPN The Magazine 29

WITH THE VISION OF A

HAWK AND THE VISAGE OF

A MUPPET, RICKY RUBIO

IS RETURNING THE JOYOF HOOPS TO MINNESOTA.

By Ric Bucher 

PASSHAPPY

photograph by DAVID BOWMAN

Nothing about Ricky Rubio is

scary, which is why nothing about

Ricky Rubio’s joining the league’s

nightly cage match at point guard

seemed like a good idea for

him—or the Timberwolves.

 A skinny European kid goingup against Derrick Rose, Russell

 Westbrook and Chris Paul? With

the Justin Bieber shag? The

singsong cartoonish name? The

 voice that suggests the Spaniard

learned English from Latka?

(YouTube it, youngsters.)

 Add in, as a drawback, the two

 years of breathless wonder over

 when Riiiicky!, drafted fth by 

Minnesota in 2009 as an 18-year-old, would grace the team with his

presence. All the talk of his being

a modern-day Pistol Pete while he

struggled to get burn in the Spanish

League? It was almost insulting.

 Anyone could see the crosshairs

on his back the minute he stepped

off the plane from Spain.

 Which explains the shock

to everyone—including the

Timberwolves—that in one month

the now-21-year-old has muscled

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his way into not only the starting

lineup but also the rookie-of-the-

 year conversation after being

named the Western Conference’s

top freshman for January.

 Well, not everyone was shocked.

Clippers guard Chauncey Billups,Mavs forward Shawn Marion,

Cavs center Ryan Hollins and

every other pro who ran up

against the 6'4" Rubio this past

fall in pickup runs at the 360

Health Club in LA already knew

about the swagger. The labor

lockout left the Timberwolves

unable to work with him, so his

agency, Lagardère Unlimited,

arranged a program: three times aday, ve days a week and once on

Saturday. Lift in the morning,

scrimmage in the afternoon, shoot

at night. “He was always there,”

says Marion.

 And he was always being tested.

“Obviously, when you’re playing

summer pickup ball, it’s different.

There’s arguing. It’s way more

physical,” says Billups, recallingone particular 360 league run-in

 with Rubio. “I was mad about

something else that had happened

earlier in the game. It wasn’t his

problem, but I just ran him over

going to the hoop. He got up,

didn’t say anything and just kept

playing hard. I thought, That’s

good. He’s going to be all right.”

Cue a sigh of relief from

David Kahn. In 2009, Kahn ewto Europe—on his own dime—

to scout Rubio, among others.

Months later, after becoming the

 Wolves president of basketball

operations, he told anyone who

 would listen that Rubio was the

kind of transformative player

the franchise needed to draft.

Minnesota took his advice, but

Kahn’s faith was immediately 

tested. NBA rules wouldn’t allow

Minnesota to buy Rubio, who

 went pro at 14, out of his Joventut

contract, so Rubio went to

powerhouse Barcelona and

struggled in a far more rigid

system for two years. That

probably aided the Wolves’ efforts

to buy out his contract but raisedenough doubts that Kahn opted

to build the rookie an incubator.

He designated Luke Ridnour to

 be the starter and signed backup

J.J. Barea, who was fresh off 

 winning a ring with the Mavs.

Kahn then hired coach Rick

 Adelman, who’s made a career out

of developing point guards of 

all shapes and assets, from

Terry Porter to Jason “WhiteChocolate” Williams to Kyle

Lowry. Adelman’s corner offense

and the presence of a second point

guard on the oor allows the

 Wolves to play through Rubio only 

 when he has a favorable matchup.

“They’ve camouaged his limita-

tions,” says an opposing GM.

Still, the Wolves sensed that the

incubator might not be needed when Rubio browbeat the coaches

into giving him a playbook and

then a few days later tried to run

a set called “Point” that was at the

 back of it. From the very rst

regular-season game, he was part

of the nishing lineup. Ten games

in, with the Timberwolves stuck

at three wins, he forced his way 

into the starting ve and they 

 went 7–4 over their next 11. EvenRubio’s defense, which was

supposed to be suspect, has been

far better than expected.

“He’s probably our best

defender getting to the right spot,”

says Adelman. “I knew he was a

great passer and had great vision,

 but I didn’t realize he was the

competitor that he is.”

Rubio, of course, has been

helped by a compressed schedule

and little universal knowledge of 

his game. A better measure of just

how good he can be will come

 when opponents face him a

second time. “He’s going to get the

Rondo treatment,” says the

opposing GM, referring to the

J-challenged Celtics point guard.

“But he’s got some competitive

qualities that very few guys have.”

The Teen Beat look disguises it well. But beneath it are the eyes of 

a hawk and a mouth that bites.

Consider the scene on Jan. 29 after

the Lakers beat the Wolves. Kobe

Bryant ran into Rubio and Pau

Gasol, who were discussing the

Olympics in the hall, and Rubio

asked Bryant if he’d be playing for

Team USA. When Bryant said yes,

Rubio pounced. “You know you’re

getting the silver medal, right?” he barked, a Chihuahua baiting a pit

 bull. “You know that.”

Bryant, eyebrows arched,

let loose a long expletive. “I’m

taking bets. If I win, I get the key 

to Barcelona.”

“I bet what you want,” Rubio

chirped back, ceding no ground.

 And that’s just it. Every player

 who has his sights set on Rubio

should know: Ol’ Latka Bieber has

 you in his too.

NBA 

30 ESPN The Magazine 02/20/2012 CRAIG LASSIG/EFE/ZUMA PRESS

OH, RICKY!RUBIO’S FIRST MONTH IN THE NBA

RIVALS THE ROOKIE SEASONS OF THE

LEAGUE’S TOP POINT GUARDS, AS

RANKED BY ASSIST PERCENTAGE.

—rossmarrinson

PERPLAYER EFFICIENCY RATING

AST% PERCENTAGE OF ALL POSSIBLE ASSISTS

STL% PERCENTAGE OF OPPONENT POSSESSIONSENDING IN STEALS BY PLAYER

DRtg DEFENSIVE RATING (LOWER = BETTER).

Rubio’s assists-per-game average is nearly

double that of the next closest rookie.

17.3

PER

4

STL% DRt g

43.3

AST%

RICKYRUBIO

98

22.1 3.438.2

CHRISPAUL

104

10.8 1.529.5

STEVENASH

112

16 1.128.8

DERRICKROSE

113

12.4 1.428.6

DERONWILLIAMS

110

15.2 2.127.5

RUSSELLWESTBROOK

111

13.1 3.626.3

RAJON

RONDO

103

11.7 2.123.9

TONYPARKER

103