Ricky Rubio doesn’t hold grudges.
After Kevin Love left one year before entering free agency, after he willed his way onto the now superstar-stuffed Cleveland Cavaliers roster, after he abandoned the Minnesota Timberwolves for the comfort that comes with playing beside LeBron James, Rubio could be angry. Infuriated. Outraged. He and Love were supposed to end the Wolves’ playoff drought together, pushing the beleaguered franchise to heights it hasn’t known since Kevin Garnett called Minnesota home.
Love left, quite willingly, instead. And it turns out Rubio is neither mad nor sad nor heartbroken nor seemingly impacted by Love’s exit at all.
During a conversation with Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, Rubio made it clear he harbored no ill will towards his former teammate:
When the Love-Wiggins trade was finally notarized in late August, there was no telephone call. Rubio texted Love, and wished him well. Love texted back. Apparently, that’s how breakups go these days. And it was over. “I have to be thankful for everything he did for me,” Rubio told Yahoo. “Coming from Europe to the NBA, it is not easy. Having the superstar give you the head’s-up on things, look out for you … I appreciate it.
“But in the end, it didn’t work out and we move on. He’s always going to be a great memory with me. Not just the way we played together, because it was fun but it’s the way he accepted me from day one.”
Although Minny’s point guard speaks with humility and traces of admiration, the end to this relationship is weird.
Three years together surely warrants more than a text message. Not to say that’s on Rubio; it’s not. It’s on Love too. Following their time together, as cornerstones of the Timberwolves, this can—and, in some instances, will—be depicted as evidence of a rift or further dysfunction.
Maybe that is, in fact, just how breakups go these days, though. Love’s departure has been a long time coming. The two probably didn’t spend as much time together as they should have either. Both Rubio and Love battled injuries during 2011-12, and Rubio missed a large chunk of 2012-13 while Love sat for almost the entire season. Chemistry, both on and off the court, might not have been where it needed to be.
This was also an inevitable outcome. The Timberwolves have been fending off Love rumors for years. They could have already said their goodbyes at the end of last season, fully aware that Love—lacking absolute leverage and all—wouldn’t be back for 2014-15.
Either way, it all ended—this relationship between building block and building block—with a text message. Rubio seems content with that, undoubtedly because he had the foresight to understand and accept there was nothing he could do. And while the ending didn’t culminate in a hug or lengthy, candid, tell-all summit, Rubio talks like a player at peace, his excitement obvious, his perception of what’s next sensible, his commitment to moving forward with the Timberwolves very real.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
