What many feared to have happened on Tuesday night for Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio ended up being the truth, his season is over due to a knee injury. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the injury is a torn left ACL for the 31-year old first-year Cavs player.
Brought over in a trade this past offseason to a team that was full of young talent, Rubio instantly became a fan favorite and a well-liked teammate due to his ability to get everyone involved in the offense. His ability as a passer and defender was immediately felt. Rubio’s 7.59 assists per game rank him 19th all-time and his 1.8 steals per game is 30th in NBA history. This was Rubio’s final season of a three-year deal that he originally signed with the Phoenix Suns before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves and then to the Cavs.
For the season, Rubio was averaging 13.1 points, 6.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game in just over 28 minutes a night. He was recently discussing an extension in Cleveland that would have kept him around for multiple years but that will obviously be put on hold as he battles back from his knee injury.
Rubio was one assist shy of a triple-double when he went down and the Cavs ended up losing the game to the New Orleans Pelicans 108-104. That gives Cleveland two losses in their last three games and just one win over the past eleven days due to postponements. Obviously, the bigger issue for the team is losing Rubio, but one can’t help but think that the impact of losing Rubio will be huge on this Cavs team.