Ricky Rubio recently appeared on the “Lo de Evolve” show and reflected on his life and career in a deep dive into his past, like his dark thoughts and how other people helped him out in his career. Among the people he mentioned, one of the prominent names that popped up in the conversation was that of the Lakers legend Pau Gasol, who was also his teammate for the Spanish National Team from 2008 to 2021.
Rubio spoke about how Gasol became a standard of measurement for himself and that his primary goal was to have a better career than Gasol. He also revealed that a little late in his career, he got some noteworthy advice from his teammate.
“For me, nothing was enough. One of the people I’ve looked up at most was Pau Gasol. I thought I had to get past his career. I want to now ask him if he had a good time on his journey on this path.”
“And one of the things I asked him now, too late, I told him that when I went out on the court, I thought it was the worst, and through there I found the motivation. And he said he thought he was the best.”
“Dude, why didn’t you tell me that on the first day?” said Rubio as he chuckled.
[Aforementioned quotes have been translated from Spanish to English]
Gasol believed that one should be overconfident to find the motivation to be effective when it matters the most. Meanwhile, Rubio believed an underdog mindset helped him find his fuel for motivation.
Rubio always compared himself to Gasol despite being teammates for 13 years. Gasol is arguably the best Spanish basketball player to have played in NBA history. He averaged 17.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in his career across 18 seasons. The two-time NBA champion was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 2023.
Meanwhile, despite Rubio’s successes on the international level, his NBA career never came close to what Gasol ended up achieving in his career. He averaged 10.8 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.1 rebounds in the 12 seasons he played in the NBA. He never won a championship, let alone had any personal achievements like the MVP Award or any All-Star selections.
Therefore, this difference in mindset clearly yielded different results for both the Spanish players, and now Rubio hilariously feels that if Gasol had given him the advice sooner, Rubio’s career may have ended differently. Do you think a mindset change was what Rubio needed to excel in his career? Let us know your opinions in the comments section.
