Ricky Rubio, the Spanish basketball prodigy once hailed as a generational playmaker, has always been a quiet enigma in the NBA. After spending 12 seasons in the league with stints at the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, and Cleveland Cavaliers, Rubio stepped away from the spotlight in 2023 to focus on his mental health.
Now, in a candid interview on the Spanish program Lo de Evole, the veteran guard opened up about the personal toll of his NBA journey, revealing why he never made real friendships during his time in the league.
Via HoopsHype (translation):
“I didn’t make friends, just teammates. It’s my nature, honestly, it’s hard for me to open up and connect, and I haven’t known how to face conflict. I’ve seen lots of teammates with despotic attitudes.”
“And I’m not able to say: ‘You don’t talk to a waiter like that.”
“How am I going to say that to a teammate? I just keep quiet and witness attitudes or behaviors that aren’t right. Often, they don’t even realize, they’re stuck in a character, in their ego.”
“In the locker room, you hear nonsense like: “What car do you drive?” Are we really competing over who has the better car? That won’t make me a better person.”
Rubio’s discomfort wasn’t just social — it was cultural. When asked whether he ever felt like a rockstar in the NBA, Rubio reflected on his early years in Minnesota:
“I was one in Minneapolis because it was the YouTube era. And I had to create that character even though I didn’t want to. I never fell in love with the culture or traditions.”
“For me, the impact the U.S. has, both generally and in basketball, they’ve turned the NBA into a show, into a business. They’ve left behind the love of basketball, and that’s also happening in Europe. So what do I take from the U.S.? What I wouldn’t do, not what I would.”
For Rubio, the biggest takeaway from his time in America wasn’t inspiration, it was a quiet warning. A poetic, painful admission from a player who gave everything to the game but found very little of himself in the system that surrounded it.
Rubio’s isolation wasn’t just social or cultural; it was psychological. In the same interview, he admitted he’d faced suicidal thoughts during the 2023 World Cup and had often felt like an impostor even during his greatest achievements.
Ultimately, Rubio’s truth serves as a stark reminder: even in a league of bright lights and global reach, a man can feel entirely alone. And for Ricky Rubio, greatness on the court was never enough to mask the emptiness he felt off it.
