While Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio is assisting his team on the basketball court, the memory of his mother has led to his most important assist off the floor.
There are two things that Utah Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio has held near and dear to his heart throughout his lifetime: basketball and family.
When he’s not wowing people on the basketball court with his flashy passes while running wild on a fast break, Rubio is doing all he can for his family — mainly his mom, Tona Vives.
Rubio and his mother were close for the majority of the now 27-year-old’s life, even when he was miles away living out his dream of playing in the NBA.
That was until May 25, 2016, when Vives passed away from lung cancer. She was 56 years old.
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Rubio announced the passing of his beloved mother with an emotional Instagram post the next day, saying “I’ll miss you so much, but I know that from up there you’ll take care of everyone like you always did. You are the love of my life. I love you so much mom.”
Before his mother’s passing, Vives told Rubio one final thing the point guard should do with the current platform he is on: Give back and help others.
That message still hasn’t left Rubio, and he’s done just that ever since — in memory of her.
"“It’s something that she told me before she passed away,” Rubio told Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic in an interview. “She made me promise that I was going to help a lot of people because I had the tools. We’re in a good spot in the NBA and we can bring awareness to a lot of people and can bring joy to a lot of families just by saying hi to a kid or telling them that they’re coming to a game, and it’s on me. Whatever it takes for that family to feel good in a tough moment.”"
Starting in 2017 when the Spaniard was with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rubio teamed up with A Breath of Hope foundation to begin the Tona Vives Cancer Awareness fund, to raise money and awareness for cancer research.
Outside of that, Rubio always made it his mission — or rather, he was living out his mother’s — to give back to his community any way he could.
When Rubio was traded from Minnesota to Utah, that continued. The first thing he did when learning about heading to Salt Lake City was arrange ways he could help and give back.
Along with meeting with children and families at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, Rubio has started the 5 For the Fight foundation, an organization that raises money for cancer research. He also has continued efforts in his A Breath of Hope foundation in Minnesota.
"“Moving to a different team, it doesn’t mean I’m not attached to the city anymore. I left, but I still have a lot of connections (in Minnesota) and I’m still working with A Breath of Hope,” Rubio told The Athletic. “All the connections that I had, I want to keep doing it.“If I move to another city, I want to keep doing it with the guys who have connections in Utah and Minnesota, too. At the end, when you’re retired, you’re all over the world. Never stop helping.”"
Although he is well known for the way he assists his teams on the court, Rubio has continued to assist families and communities off the court in a much bigger way: living out a mission his mother gave him just before she passed.
Those off-the-court efforts are by far the most important assist the Jazz point guard will ever record in his career.
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"“My mom was about giving back and taking care of the people,” Rubio told The Athletic. “That was one of her strengths. I want to keep her legacy and that’s my way to do it.”"