MINNEAPOLIS — Ricky Rubio’s sensational rookie season has come to a devastatingly abrupt end.
The Minnesota Timberwolves point guard will miss the rest of the NBA season with a torn ACL in his left knee, the team announced Saturday. Now the upstart Wolves will have to continue chasing a playoff berth without one of the players who was most responsible for the franchise’s resurgence.
It also means that Rubio will miss the Olympics this summer in London, where he was expected to be a vital part of Spain’s bid for the gold medal.
Rubio went down in the closing seconds of a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night, when his knee buckled as he tried to help out on defense against Kobe Bryant. Rubio had an MRI on Saturday that revealed the torn knee ligament.
“Love my teammate and friend (at)rickyrubio9,” all-star forward Kevin Love tweeted. “Here’s to a quick recovery. We will miss you.”
In his first season after coming from Spain, the 21-year-old was averaging 10.6 points, 8.2 assists and 2.2 steals, but his impact has been so much greater than his numbers.
