Talking Ricky Rubio on Sports Overnight America

Last night, I joined Pat Mauro of Sports Overnight America to talk Brett Favre, the Vikings, and the Timberwolves.

A transcript of the first part of our conversation, which covered Favre and the Vikings, can be found here.

This section covers our discussion on Ricky Rubio, the Timberwolves, and the differences in the paths young American and European stars take to the NBA.

Thanks again to Pat for the chance to chat.

Pat Mauro: Is Ricky Rubio ever going to suit up as a T-Wolf? How come he didn’t show up on Saturday?

Marino Eccher: …My first thought as soon as he was drafted and I heard that he was thinking about staying in Spain was that if he does not show up for the Timberwolves this year, it’s never gonna happen.

Now, I’m not quite sure if that’s the case. I do have a hard time seeing him ending up in a Timberwolves uniform, just because between him and Jonny Flynn, I think Rubio is the guy that other teams are really going to come after, and I think Rubio is the bigger trade asset.

In terms of them coexisting in the backcourt, I can’t see that happening. I can’t see any situation in which two guys who are clearly point guards and ball handlers are gonna share time on the court.

PM: He just turned 18 years old. I gotta believe a lot of Americans are saying, “Hey, if I gotta be 19 and a year out of college, how come this dude at 18 gets to come over here and play?”

ME: ...the other day I was wondering: Even LeBron James, at 17 or 18, he had to borrow against future earning to get his Hummer. Last year, Ricky Rubio made €300,000 to play basketball. He was 17.

So I think there’s certainly a disconnect there in terms of what’s acceptable to American college players and what’s acceptable to young European stars.

Now, are Americans going to start flocking to Europe to make their money early and to make a splash professionally rather than going to college? I don’t know.

You look at European basketball, you hear these horror stories of guys not getting paid, guys not getting playing time, so I think it’s still very much an unknown world for American basketball players.

…But if you do in fact see a tipping point in the next five, 10 years where guys look at Europe as a more attractive option, that’s when I think you’re gonna start to see some reconsideration of the economic incentives for guys who stay domestic.

PM: You wonder how many guys in the next year or two are going to go the Brandon Jennings route. All I could think on Thursday watching the draft was, “This would probably be more interesting if there was some high schoolers involved.” Tyler Hansborough wouldn’t have gone 13 to the Pacers if there were some high schoolers available.

ME: …That’s an excellent point, and you mention Brandon Jennings—there was a young man out in California, his name escapes me, he’s a big man, who is skipping his senior year of high school to go play in Europe.

So it’s not just guys skipping college….again, this isn’t like a trend or a phenomenon yet, but it’s been done, where guys are saying, “Why should I play college ball, why should I play high school ball, when I can make five, six figures playing in Europe, and probably be more NBA-ready when I come out?”

PM: I feel so divided, too, because I’m such a college basketball fan, and I love the idea of these great stars, these great talents, coming and playing some college hoops for a couple of years, but at the same time, you look at like tennis players, and really any other sport, and there’s no age limit. If you’re a 15-year-old phenom in tennis, you can go play Wimbeldon.

ME: …the great accomplishment of college basketball and college football—if you want to call it that—is that they’ve become these tremendously successful profit-churning industries that get all of their employees to work for free.

Now, obviously, you get some scholarships in there, it’s not quite as cut-and-dried as that, but you have to think that sooner or later, just with the amount of money that comes out of college basketball and college football…someone’s going to look at that and say, “What the heck are we doing here? Why the heck would these young men agree to ply their trade, use their talent, to make somebody else a buck?”