Ricky's return "He has worked very hard, both physically and mentally"
NBA This is the classification
The
Cleveland Cavaliers
came out to warm up wearing black T-shirts that proclaimed the big news of the night:
"Welcome, Ricky Rubio
. "
In them you could also read a desire that helps to place the Catalan in the dressing room.
"The most difficult paths always lead to wonderful destinations."
After 380 days working to overcome the second tear in the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, Ricky returned to play
.
The timing came at 3:38 to go in the first quarter.
Ricky Rubio had started the game sitting next to the coaching staff, the player closest to the substitution table.
As if he couldn't wait any longer.
That 380 days were already enough.
And after a few cautious first possessions,
.
A foul caused in defense and another in attack.
A missed free kick, and another scored.
And finally the first basket at stake.
Cavs coach
JB Bickerstaff stuck to the plan.
Ricky Rubio played 10 minutes and 27 seconds spread over three periods
.
He even turned to him at a time when his team began to lose the ball too much.
The Catalan finished the night with
9 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist
, although with the minutes restriction he did not participate in the last quarter, where
Cleveland completed the comeback against Portland (113-119).
"To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a player with the spirit that Ricky has. He's unique,"
Bickerstaff said before the game.
"He doesn't have a single ounce of selfishness in his room. Everything he does, he does to help others."
"Win. Excitement. Fear. Intrigue"
A few days ago, when asked in
El Reverso
what was going through his head as he saw this moment approaching, Ricky responded with a flurry of sensations.
"You win. Excitement. Fear. Intrigue. But what stands out is the illusion."
Fear because at 32 he is aware of his sporting mortality.
The first time he tore the ACL in his left knee, he was 21 years old, the world at his feet and a whole career ahead of him
.
Now any relapse would inevitably bring an end to the NBA, which in any case he does not see as far away.
"Maybe two or three seasons," he calculates.
And above all illusion because after so many comings and goings, he has found his place in these Cavaliers.
Ricky, they all say, has been vital in creating a winning culture in an inexperienced and sunken team since the departure of LeBron James
.
But just as important as his role as mentor to a young locker room, was his great performance in those two months prior to the injury.
Perhaps the highest that he has had in the NBA, and by ascendancy in the team, the most similar to the version of him with the Spanish team.
The feeling is mutual, and just as Cleveland knocked on his door when he was a free agent despite the injury, Ricky Rubio's priority was also to return.
In fact, he says that this summer, when the opportunity to negotiate for Donovan Mitchell arose, the general manager of the franchise, Koby Altman, called to ask his opinion.
.
The Catalan point guard had shared a dressing room and complicity with him in the Utah Jazz, and no one knew better than him if he would fit into the team.
His arrival has accelerated the pace of some Cavs who have gone from feeling 'adolescent' to looking at the noble part of the East.
Between him (26 points) and Darius Garland (20), two stars who point to Ricky as one of his mentors, they neutralized the enormous performance of Damian Lillard (50).
And they put the icing on the cake on the return of the Catalan with a victory.
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