Ricky Rubio Injury News: Wolves Star Guard Out Indefinitely
The Ricky Rubio injury news isn’t good — his severely sprained ankle will keep him out indefinitely
If there’s one thing the Minnesota Timberwolves couldn’t afford — it was a Ricky Rubio injury. Yet, here we are, after Rubio crumpled to the floor with a severely sprained ankle, suffered in the Wolves road loss against the Orlando Magic on Friday night. He’ll be out indefinitely, though USA Today has reported it could be seven or eight weeks.
Anybody who has talked to Rubio will know that he’s an optimistic person, which makes the following quotes by Flip Saunders really hit home:
"“He’s in good spirits. He feels good. Anyone who knows Ricky, he went through his knee situation a few years ago, he’s an extremely hard worker. So he’ll get back. If anyone is going to get back as soon as they can, he’d be a guy that would. He can’t put any weight on it to get any kind of weight-bearing X-ray. Two weeks, we’ll be able to look at it and then we’ll know.”"
The last sentence is the most haunting, as those of us who have experienced ankle sprains can attest — if he still can’t put any weight on it, that’s a really bad sprain. This isn’t football where you can get shot up with cortisone and wrap it tightly. Basketball players need the ability to cut and change direction quickly — even more so for point guards.
Without Rubio, the Wolves are going to have to lean heavily on rookie Zach LaVine and veteran Mo Williams — neither of which are great options. Sure, LaVine as one half of the “Bounce Brothers” will produce highlights, but not wins. Williams is a seasoned vet, but he’s best served coming in off the bench to provide spurts of instant offense.
This Wolves team wasn’t going to the playoffs in the brutal Western Conference, but it was an opportunity to gain chemistry and develop as a unit. Now that Rubio is out up to two months, all of that progress is put on hold.