Posts
By: Freaknick
Look: I don’t want to write about Ricky Rubio any more than you want to read about him these days. The truth is, I wish he would hibernate for a while and then only communicate by waving a series of colored flags. The GREEN flag means he’ll play for DKV, BLUE means the Timberwolves, RED means he’s playing for another European team, and WHITE means, “You know what guys? I think I’ll just stay underground and sew flags.” We now know one thing: in my hypothetical hibernation, Rubio will not be waving the green DKV flag. Right now, I kind of wish he would raise the white one.
People are jumping all over this new non-news as if it’s new non-non-news. Speaking of double negatives, you cannot not blame Ricky Rubio in all of this. At first I gave him a pass; you expect naîvete from a youngster like him. But my patience wore thin right as the NBA Draft rolled around. Ricky wants to play here. Ricky won’t play there. Ricky wants to play near a beach. Ricky’s mom doesn’t like the cold.
I’m betting Michael Jordan’s mom wasn’t in a big hurry to hit the streets of Chicago and bust out her new windbreaker, either. But somehow, she soldiered on. Now, uttering the words “Sam Bowie” in Portland is akin to yelling out “Voldemort” in the halls of Hogwarts.
Hurricane Katrina displaced Chris Paul in his rookie year; now he has shoes to trudge through puddles…and they’re named after him. Deron Williams probably isn’t a Mormon; he’s doing just fine in Utah. Marvin Williams? Andrew Bogut? Solid, but not All-Stars.
After going from Baltimore to Syracuse, Carmelo Anthony probably would have loved some sunshine, but he went to Denver and became the leading scorer on a playoff team. Darko Milicic is on his fourth team now, and is best known as the archetype for the European workout wonder who falls flat on his face when given a chance against warm bodies.
Ricky apparently has no interest in copying and pasting somebody else’s name into the wrong part of the history books. In this case, the #4 pick of the Kings Tyreke Evans could have been smack dab in the middle of his clipboard; instead, Evans is dropping 25, 10 and 5 in the Summer League while Rubio (and his lawyers, who ALL apparently suck at their jobs)tip toes around a definitive answer. Meanwhile, Ricky’s eating up valuable practice time, missing endorsement opportunities, and alienating his potential NBA fan base in Minnesota and abroad.
If he has his wits about him , he’ll agree to the buyout, try to make a second first impression, salvage what’s left of his image and smile for the cameras while the cash comes rolling in. Consider the buyout paid, and consider Rubio back en route to stardom.
Until then, let’s stay focused on the basketball players who are busy playing basketball.