Ricky Rubio Stuck With Timberwolves, Unable to Control His Own NBA Destiny

Ricky Rubio is hardly an NBA player. He’s technically affiliated with an NBA team — the Minnesota Timberwolves still hold his draft rights who picked him No. 5 overall two summers ago — but he’s still plugging away in his native spain, doing his thing for FC Barcelona.

Then again, if Rubio wants to fit in with the NBA crowd, he’s already got that “overblown sense of entitlement” thing down pat.

Rubio is holding out on making the flight stateside to play in the NBA. The Timberwolves have the exclusive rights to negotiate with him, and the 20-year-old star point guard wants nothing to do with Minnesota.

“He’ll continue to say all the diplomatic things, and Minnesota needs to keep his value up for trade purposes, but the family’s preference is to be on the East Coast, specifically New York, Miami or Boston,” a member of Rubio’s camp said to the New York Times. “He wouldn’t be troubled if he has to stay another year.”

OK, we get it. Rubio’s following the latest NBA trend — using the media to flaunt his star power and control his destiny. He wants to make his own decisions about where he plays — not the agents, not the owners, and certainly not a bunch of ping-pong balls at a draft lottery.

LeBron James called his own shots. Carmelo Anthony‘s doing it now. Chris Paul, rumor has it, has made some rumblings from time to time.

But there’s a reason those guys have acted entitled. It’s because they’ve earned that right.

When you’re the league’s reigning two-time MVP and you’re generally accepted as the best player on the planet, you deserve to have some power. When you’re one of the league’s most gifted scorers and you’ve carried your team to the playoffs every single spring since year one, you deserve it then, too. When you’re threatening to go down as the best point guard the league has seen since Magic Johnson — yeah, that’s also worthy of a little sway.

Respect is earned over time. Entitled superstars are made, not born. The game’s best players have the power to effect change, but they had to put in years of hard work to earn it.

Ricky Rubio is still a kid. He can talk all he wants back in Spain about the shots he wants to call, but no one here in the States has to listen. Rubio’s still a long way from deserving our ears.

New York, Miami or Boston. Sure. Who wouldn’t want to play in one of those three towns? Huge markets, lots of prestige, and a chance to win a championship every year. You can’t blame Rubio for wanting that.

We could waste all the time in the world debating how plausible his wishes might be. The Knicks? There’s a chance — if he waits until 2012 when Raymond Felton expires. The Heat? Quite possibly — LeBron and Dwyane Wade need a playmaker, and Rubio could be that guy. The Celtics? No way. They’ve got a guy named Rajon Rondo, and he’s pretty good.

But all that talk is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter where Rubio wants to go — for his first three years in the States, he’s under Timberwolves control whether he likes it or not. Then restricted free agency kicks in, and if the Wolves still want to pay him, they can. (And knowing their history, they will.)

Rubio’s still a long way from getting to decide anything for himself. That should be fine with him, right? He’s from Spain, where it’s a faux pas for young athletes to think of themselves. It’s all about team.

On FC Barcelona, Rubio’s fine with that. On the court, he does everything for his teammates — he passes and passes and passes to get them good shots, almost to a fault. But on the Timberwolves? Teamwork is a concept lost on the young Rubio.

The kid’s still got a lot to learn. Someday, he’ll say what he wants and we’ll all listen. But for now, he’s just got to pay his dues. He owes the Wolves plenty of them.

Where, if ever, will Ricky Rubio play in the NBA? Leave your thoughts below.