• Alba Torrens "Locked up in the room for 14 days I have lived very beautiful moments"

  • Usman Garuba "I want to give back to my parents all their sacrifice by leaving Africa"

In 17 years,

Rudy Fernández

gave him to lose his matted hair and that first-time face of a mischievous comic boy, to go through the NBA, have three back surgery, win two Euroleague with Real Madrid, 10 medals with the national team - and, among the five golds, two worldwide, from 2006 to 2019-, marry

Helen Lindes

and have two children,

Alan

and

Aura

. In 17 years he was also several players, that jumpy and daring Joventut, the Blazers tripler and, now, with 36 compliments, the wise man, the one who supplies physical fullness with knowing how to be and read basketball like perhaps no one else in all the planet.

In 17 years, those Rudy Fernández always had a common denominator in red, Spain as a priority, despite the pain, the physical and the mental. In 17 years, just one absence (Eurobasket of 2017), 15 tournaments with which it begins, captain of the ship that now sails in Tokyo in search of more glory, because they have already shown that nothing satisfies them. But, what is addictive about this human group to offer you an existence?

In his response, Rudy doesn't dig too far into memory to find the example that illustrates a commitment.

"Look, two years ago, I had one of the worst summers of my life on a personal level. And what made me be in the national team was the camaraderie. In the end, it seems a cliché to talk about us being a big family, but in those moments is where friends really see each other, "he responded to EL MUNDO in the days leading up to the Games, where today (2:00 pm) he awaits his debut against Japan in Saitama.

The walk along Venice Beach

The friends. Like that

Ricky Rubio

, a mischief partner already in La

Penya

and a room in the national team, who caught him in Los Angeles like he grabs friends who go through a bad drink and took him on a bicycle through Venice Beach. A banal bike ride can be the best therapy in the world. Because Rudy had just fired his grandfather just a couple of weeks after his sister

Marta

lost the child she was expecting. And to Rudy, of course, the World Cup that was about to start was made a ball. But that's precisely what

La Familia is for

. From those sleepless nights, those tears after raising the World Cup to the sky of Beijing, a tattoo remains on his left ankle. And a lot of thanks.

Before they sacrificed their summers of youth, now they stop seeing their children for weeks. I insist, what does this team have? The oldest of us are already parents and they are almost all small children, less than five or six years old. It is true, it is difficult to leave the family parked to face these concentrations or the tournaments. They are our priority. But we know they support us from a distance. Only the Eurobasket in 2017 was taken as a break. Since 2004 I have been lucky enough to be able to spend every summer in the national team. Before that Eurobasket, my body asked me, physically and mentally, for a break to face the years to come. It was fundamental for my career to ask for help, to put myself in the hands of people who understand this world, the ups and downs of this profession. It is important to be positive in the most difficult moments. And the demo was 2019,to be world champion, with everything that happened to me. The player must be mentally prepared for all kinds of situations. Good memories of Saitama. The pavilion remains the same, little has changed. Great memories. In 2006, El Chacho and I were kids (world champions in Japan) and now we are veterans. But the illusion remains intact. Do the young men who now enter the national team remind you of the 2004 Rudy, aged 19? That is far away, but of course. They were very happy Games, because also, I lived them with my sister. And Felipe, Pau and I debuted in our first Games. The youngsters have to be sponges, because there are players of the highest level in front of them. NBA players. Soak up the work they do so that it can later be used for their career. As a veteran,I try to help them to enter into the dynamics of this great family. It's easy to compete with this team. Garuba, his Real Madrid teammate, is also now 19 years old. That said, Usman has to be a sponge right now to learn. He is a player who has a lot of margin. I have lived his emergence closely, I know that he is working, listening and looking at players who can help him.

Rudy, during a Spanish training session in Las Vegas.FEB

Felipe, Spanoulis, maybe Pau ... Do you feel that a time when you were the main protagonist is ending? Yes, of course. This does not stop and many players of my generation retire. You see it. On a personal level, I am 36 years old, many injuries, many games. Because the European competition has too many games. And physically and mentally some could have lasted longer, but they retire earlier because the level of physical demand is maximum. Only four basketball players had played five Games: Juan Carlos Navarro, Teófilo Cruz, Oscar Schmidt and Andrew Gaze. Now you, Pau and Luis Scola will do it. How do you face Tokyo? It is something incredible that I could not imagine when I started. And they may be our last Games. And we are aware of how tough they are going to be. In addition, the format changes with respect to what we know.The desire must always be there and even more knowing that it may be the last chance to be all together. Were you surprised by Pau's ability to return? He is a benchmark, he has shown many things preparing day and night to get here. He is eager to contribute.

The pandemic has taught me the lesson of living from day to day

Rudy, how can you always be in the right place on the track without having to run faster than everyone else? It's that touch. The years go by and you have a little more wisdom, intuition. It's about anticipating. In that sense, I have always been a player who has tried to intuit the play in defense. And in attack, choose the best option to get something positive. Outside of basketball, what have you learned from these uncertain times? The lesson of living from day to day. Be surrounded by people who love you, who you love. The situation we are experiencing is incredible, none of us thought that in two years we could go through all these kinds of situations. I think we are all dealing with it as best we can, trying to get the positive side out. For example, confinement served to be more with my family,Something that I had not been able to do so much before. In the future, do you see yourself on a bench, in an office or outside the world of basketball? At no point am I thinking about what to do when I retire. Yes I want to continue linked to sports, but as I told you, I go day by day. And now more.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • sports

  • Spain Olympics

  • Basketball Olympics

  • Spanish Basketball Team

  • HBPR

  • Ricky Rubio

  • Pau Gasol

Tokyo Olympics Why is Spain a world power in team sports?

Tokyo 2020 How many medals does Spain aspire to at these Games?

Basketball Ricky Rubio and El Chacho put the music, Juancho gives the scare

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