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Andrew LopezESPN
Phoenix Suns guard Ricky Rubio told reporters Wednesday that he did not join the team in Orlando, Florida until this week due to a positive COVID-19 test. Rubio said he joined the team two days ago and that Tuesday was his first practice.
Phoenix has its first scrimmage on Thursday, although it is unclear if Rubio will play.
“I just had two practices, so I have to speak to the strength coach, [Suns coach Monty Williams] and the whole team, “said Rubio.” I feel good, but we have to be smart about it. It is a preseason game. We have to develop a plan that is day by day. We cannot plan ahead like other times. We didn’t know when it was coming, so we have to play it day by day. “
Rubio declined to say when he first tested positive for the virus, but mentioned that it was more difficult for him because while he was in Phoenix, his family stayed in Spain.
Now, he says, he has to be careful how he reraises and prepares to play one more time.
“I’m fine. I have no symptoms,” said Rubio. “Now that I’m back in the game, after being gone for three or four months, your legs feel it, your lungs feel it. It’s something I have to work on and figure out how to do my best for the team and focus on my health too. “
Williams said he would meet with his staff Wednesday night to determine Rubio’s state of play in the future.
Rubio, who has been involved with the league’s social justice movement while out, was on a recent league call with Breonna Taylor’s mother and attorney.
Taylor, a black medical worker, was killed in Louisville, Kentucky, in March after police executed a “do not touch” order and shot the 26-year-old at least eight times, according to reports.
In his comments Wednesday, Rubio tried to focus the NBA’s return to basketball on the current social climate.
“It is difficult, but in the moments in which we live in this moment, we have to adapt to the uncomfortable,” Rubio said. “The NBA did a very good job of keeping us safe here. At the end of the day, basketball, right now, is not the first thing we are thinking about when it comes to living. There is a lot on our plate and the plate of We all have to think about the big picture, but we’re here and ready to play. “
Rubio is not the only player who has not been with the team in Orlando. The Suns have no guards Elie Okobo and Jalen Lecque for what the team calls personal matters. Center Aron Baynes told the Stadium that he tested positive for COVID-19 and that he is not yet with the team.
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