Ricky Rubio Video: Timberwolves Star Injures Knee in Collision with Kobe Bryant

A lot of people who follow the NBA dislike Kobe Bryant for various reasons. Add the entire state of Minnesota and fans of the Timberwolves everywhere to that list.

Their budding star point guard, Ricky Rubio, appears to have suffered a possible ACL injury after a late-game collision with Kobe.

This took place on Friday night with around 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Bryant was attempting to drive hard toward the basket as his team was down, 101-102, at that point. He managed to draw a blocking foul on Rubio but also destroyed his knee in the process.

The collision looked extremely painful for the Spanish rookie, and CBS Sports' Ben Golliver speculated that his reported “left knee injury” is actually a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Rubio at one point got off the bench and attempted to walk it off, but it was to no avail. The damage is done and isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.

The Rookie of the Year candidate is probably done for the year and would finish his first NBA season with averages of 10.6 points, 8.2 assists and 4.2 while helping revitalize his beleaguered Minnesota franchise.

It’s a shame that the Timberwolves have to suffer through this after waiting two years for Rubio to jump from his Euroleague team.

It’s even more ridiculous that he was called for a blocking foul and the team lost their 18th straight game to the Lake Show—the longest active losing streak by one team to another in the NBA.

Hopefully the young Spaniard can make a full recovery by the start of the 2012-13 season if it actually is a torn ACL.

He’s making the Timberwolves fun to watch and is going to be an excellent player with a long NBA career.