Ricard Rubio Vives (born 21 October 1990) is a Spanish professional basketball player for Joventut Badalona of the Liga ACB. He became the youngest player ever to play in the Spanish Liga ACB on 15 October 2005, at age 14. Rubio made his EuroLeague debut on 24 October 2006, a few days after turning 16, making him one of the youngest players to play in the EuroLeague.
On 25 June 2009, Rubio was drafted with the fifth pick in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, making him the first player born in the 1990s to be drafted by an NBA team. The Timberwolves had an agreement in principle with his Spanish team, DKV Joventut, to buy out his contract, but Rubio backed out of the deal. On 31 August 2009, Joventut traded the rights to Rubio to FC Barcelona, and Rubio signed a six-year contract with FC Barcelona the following day. In 2011, Rubio joined the Timberwolves, and spent six seasons in Minnesota before being traded to the Utah Jazz in June 2017. He signed with the Phoenix Suns in July 2019, before returning to Minnesota in 2020. Rubio was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in August 2021, but was dealt to the Indiana Pacers a month after suffering a season ending ACL injury in December.
In August 2023, Rubio announced he was taking a break from the sport to prioritise his mental health. In January 2024, he announced that he would be retiring from the NBA.
Rubio debuted in the Spanish ACB League in the 2005–06 season with DKV Joventut. Rubio was the youngest player ever to debut in the ACB, at 14 years and 11 months. He won the FIBA EuroChallenge championship with Joventut that year. He led the Spanish ACB League in steals during the 2006–07 season. He also won the Spanish ACB League's Rising Star Award that season. Rubio was also named the FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year in 2007, 2008, and 2009. He made his EuroLeague debut on 24 October 2006, versus Panathinaikos of Athens as Joventut's backup point guard for Elmer Bennett. He became the fifth-youngest EuroLeague player at the time. Rubio averaged 2.8 assists per game in his first season of EuroLeague play. He won the EuroCup championship with Joventut in 2008. He was also voted the Spanish ACB League's best point guard in 2008 and 2010. He won the 2009–10 EuroLeague with FC Barcelona.
Despite his notability, he was carefully shielded. DKV Joventut and Rubio's parents agreed not to make him available for interviews until his 18th birthday on 21 October 2008. The restrictions were ended a few months early once he was selected for the Spain national team that would play at the 2008 Olympics.
Rubio won the 2008 Mr. Europa Award, which was given out yearly by the Italian Superbasket Magazine. In 2009, his club Badalona raised the amount of money his contract paid per year from 80,000 euros net income to 300,000 euros net income. He was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the Spanish ACB League 2008–09 season, and he also led the league in steals that season. Rubio declared himself eligible for the 2009 NBA draft on 20 April 2009. Rubio's agent during that time was Dan Fegan.
After the 2009 NBA draft, Rubio played for the FC Barcelona for the next two seasons as agreed upon with the Minnesota Timberwolves. During that time, he helped the team win the EuroLeague Championship in 2010 and the Liga ACB Championship in 2011.
Minnesota Timberwolves (2011–2017)
On 24 June 2009, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired the fifth pick in the 2009 NBA draft, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov from the Washington Wizards, in exchange for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. With the 5th pick, Minnesota selected Rubio, making him the first player born in the 1990s to be drafted with Steph Curry still on the board. The Timberwolves had a total of four first-round picks in the 2009 NBA draft. They used the 6th and 18th picks in the first round and chose two other point guards, Jonny Flynn from Syracuse and Ty Lawson from North Carolina, surprising many in the NBA. Lawson's draft rights were soon traded to the Denver Nuggets. The Timberwolves then used the 28th pick to select Wayne Ellington, a shooting guard from North Carolina.
The following day, Rubio's father told a Spanish media outlet his son might return to Spain for at least one more season. Rubio did not attend an introductory press conference by the Timberwolves. Rubio had a buyout clause in his Joventut contract reported by various media outlets as ranging from $6.6 million to $8.2 million, and Timberwolves general manager David Kahn admitted Rubio would probably have to play one more season in Spain to reduce or avoid the buyout.
On 22 July, the Associated Press reported Rubio was seeking to leave Joventut, regardless of whether he was able to come to the NBA. The report indicated that the ACB powers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid were both interested in signing Rubio if he could not immediately go to the NBA. The main stumbling block to Rubio's NBA move was a clause in the league's collective bargaining agreement that prohibited a team from paying more than $500,000 toward a player's contract buyout. Barça and Real, as ACB clubs, were not subject to this rule and could pay far more toward a buyout. In another development, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on 4 August Rubio's representatives had been actively seeking endorsement deals in Minnesota to help finance his buyout (the NBA buyout rules are binding on teams, but not on third parties).
However, on 31 August 2009, ESPN reported Rubio would not come to the NBA until 2011 at the earliest. Joventut expressed a willingness to reduce the buyout, and the Timberwolves apparently had a deal to bring him to the NBA, but in the end Rubio did not feel ready to cross the Atlantic. Rubio issued the following statement:
The reason leading me to take this next step is to have a period of preparation to better take the challenge of the NBA in better conditions as a player. The Minnesota Timberwolves continue to be my first option and I wish to play with them in the near future.
Kahn believed Rubio and his family were being pressured by the Spanish media, his national teammates, and people in his hometown to stay in Spain, adding, "It's just been a tough summer. From an 18-year-old's perspective and his family's perspective, it was very nerve-racking".
ESPN reported his original buyout with Joventut was €5.7 million ($8.1 million) in both 2009 and 2010. Barça bought out Rubio's contract for €3.5 million ($5.0 million), and announced on September 1 he had signed a six-year deal with the club. The contract gave him the option to go to the NBA after the 2010–11 season, with ESPN reporting the buyout at that time would be a more manageable $1.4 million (of which the Timberwolves could pay $500,000).
On 1 June 2011, sources reported Rubio had "reached an agreement with Minnesota to join the Timberwolves" for the 2011–12 NBA season. Rubio arrived off a plane in Minnesota to a barrage of fans waiting to welcome him to the United States. On 17 June 2011, Rubio held a press conference announcing he had signed with Minnesota.
Becoming the 10th Spanish NBA player, Rubio made his regular season debut on 26 December 2011, to a sellout crowd at the Target Center, the team's first sellout crowd since the 2007–08 season. Rubio recorded 6 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in 26 minutes in a 4-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month after the first month of the season. In February, Rubio and teammate Derrick Williams were selected to participate in the 2012 Rising Stars challenge. Rubio was drafted to Team Shaq, while Williams was drafted to Team Chuck. Rubio scored 22 points on 19 February 2012 in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers. In a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on 9 March 2012, Rubio tore his ACL and his lateral collateral ligament defending Kobe Bryant. He missed the rest of the season. Rubio finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, trailing only Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving. Rubio had averaged 10.6 points, 8.2 assists and 2.2 steals in 41 games.