Spain's Rubio readies for Minnesota cold

“It's cold there,” Rubio told reporters moments after his name was called at the draft. “Yeah, my mom hates cold places.”

“I'm excited to come to the NBA,” the 18-year-old said.

Rubio, whose slick ball-handling and mussed brown hair have led to comparisons with former American sensation Pete Maravich, was tipped to be picked as high as second by some pundits.

The 6ft-4in guard, who turned professional at age 14, said his priority was game-time rather than marketing ahead of joining the Timberwolves, whose home base lacks the profile of more cosmopolitan destinations.

“I'm thinking about to play minutes,” Rubio said.

“That's my love. I want to play basketball, and if they give me minutes, I'm going to come.”

Unlike other top picks, the teen's draft status has been complicated by a 4.75 million euro (US$6.6 million) fee his Spanish club DKV Joventut has demanded for his release.

“Now I know where I'm going to go, so I have to talk with the team, what exactly they want about me, and if necessary, I'm going to pay the buy-out,” he said. “We are closer to an agreement with the team, so we are going to see.”

Rubio said his experience at the Beijing Olympics last year, where he held his own against U.S. point guard stars Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Jason Kidd on the way to a silver medal with Spain, had given him confidence to play the world's top league.

“It's helped me a lot because I played against the best players in the NBA, so that means that I can play here,” Rubio said.

The teen was one of three point guards taken by Minnesota in the opening round, the Timberwolves also snapping up Jonny Flynn of Syracuse at number six and North Carolina's Ty Lawson with the 18th pick.

“That's a big surprise for me they took another point guard,” Rubio said. “But we are going to see what they want.”

Two other Spanish players were selected in the draft; small forward Victor Claver taken by Portland with the 22nd pick, while Denver grabbed point guard Sergio Llull with the 34th, although his rights were later traded to Houston.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email