Rudy Fernández, leader of the national team in the name of the father: "The easy thing would have been to stay at home"

In 2004, that curly-haired prodigy, still beardless like those who are now admiring him from the next room, hit the counter of what was to become a legend with the national team, asking for passage, still shy, in the generation that was already revolutionizing Spanish basketball.

At the Athens Games, Rodolfo was there, in the stands of the OAKA following the adventures of his children,

, who years ago ran after a ball in the stands of a pavilion in Llucmayor while he was the one who played.

"Now I will be able to cry for you what you deserve," wrote

after winning the last ACB with Real Madrid, as a posthumous tribute "to the pillar of my life", fighting cancer for three years.

Rodolfo no longer travels with his son, but the forward is still there, 18 years later in a Eurobasket, now leader of another Spain, in the name of his father.

"He has had a very bad time and my father is one of the reasons why he continues. Rudy keeps him in mind, to show him that he is going to continue competing as long as he can. Because he knows that it would make him happy," says Marta about the motivational engine of who these days confessed that one of the commandments that his father had instilled in him by fire is not erased from his head: "That he be available to the team at all times."

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Rudy Fernandez, 37, suffered three back surgeries, an endless list of muscular mishaps, and earlier this season, a wrist injury.

But the Balearic remains there, a unique example of commitment, raising the bar of those who preceded him, whom he has already surpassed in the number of caps - today, against Georgia in Tbilisi (7:00 p.m., Four), he will play his 240th match with Spain, only behind

-, in his 16th summer (he only missed the 2017 European Championship), in search of his 11th medal. And he exceeded 2,000 points.

"This year could have been erased, it's already old, the seasons are very demanding... You see that your usual teammates are not here, that

They had the misfortune to get injured.

But he is a born competitor.

If he is physically fine and can continue helping... Because the easy thing would have been to stay at home with his family.

He is a great father, his children are the most important thing.

He still charges an even greater value, "Marta continues about the third oldest player in the tournament (only the Finn

surpass him ).

Rudy, against Bulgaria.ALBERTO NEVADOFEB

Rudy speaks of "enjoying it as if it were the last time", of "not letting opportunities pass by", because he is aware that it could be the final dance, that the World Cup next summer where he could lead the list of caps or the Games of 2024 that would be his sixth (record) are so close and so far at the same time.

And yet he tackles it with amazing intensity, both on and off the court.

In August, on the first day of the concentration, he organized a barbecue at his house with everyone to forge what is not seen and is envied, what they call

.

A match similar to the one he staged in the middle of Real Madrid's spring crisis: later, 17 wins, two losses, one Euroleague final and one more ACB.

"From Defense"

In his debut, against Bulgaria, he contributed four triples.

Although that, scoring, is behind Rudy on his list of priorities.

"Let's remember Rudy de la Penya, super scorer, incredible physique, dunks and spectacle. Now he scores from defense, from things that are not seen in the statistics. I have seen few capable of that. He is a mixture of talent and work, both mentally and physically. I'm staying with the player he is now, honestly", adds the older sister.

Rudy Fernández and Scariolo.alberto nevadoFEB

"He is not a leader who is noticed abroad, he does it from the track, in the locker room," admits Marta who, a few days ago, valued the commitment -in 2019 she went to the World Cup after she suffered an abortion and his grandfather died - of his brother with a sincere description on his social networks: "He is not the most loved among the fans, nor does he create the sympathy of others ...".

And he explains: "He is a very temperamental player, we would all like to have him on our team, but perhaps he does not create those sympathies against him. He is not very aware of whether he likes it or not. Off the court he is not very expressive. There are people more mediatic , he shows it on the track".

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