Minnesota Nice is something a lot of Minnesotans are proud of. And former Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio felt that love during his tenure in Minnesota.
“The people over there are the nicest people on Earth, I think,” Rubio said to the Associated Press. “I’m truly going to miss that.”
Rubio also said he hopes the Wolves make the playoffs – something they never did in his six seasons with Minnesota, prolonging the longest playoff drought in the NBA among all active teams.
Over the last few seasons, Rubio dealt with a ton of trade rumors. In 2016, the Wolves tried to initiate a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.
During this past season, Minnesota and New York were engaged in trade talks that would have reunited head coach Tom Thibodeau and Derrick Rose but once again, no deal was made.
Finally Rubio was dealt on June 30 to the Utah Jazz for a first-round pick (it also opened up cap space for the Wolves). Although Rubio wasn’t able to make the playoffs with the Wolves, he believes it helped him learn a lot about himself.
“Great six years. I enjoyed every single one. It was a lot of tough times, but I learned a lot,” he said.
