Chris Paul admires Ricky Rubio

Jaime Martínez Lafargue - October 19, 2008 at 10:24 - 2217 views - Post your comment

Chris Paul and Ricky Rubio attended a promotion event in a street court of Barcelona. The crowd was delighted with the couple that took part in a 3-on-3 tournament played there. They chatted, signed jerseys and pictures to the fans and gave a press conference for the media. Solobasket.com was there...

Chris Paul came to Barcelona to play a friendly game of the NBA Europe Live 2008 tour with the Hornets against the Washington Wizards and was delighted with the city: "it's my first time in Barcelona and I love it. I came just for three days, but I want to come back next year for vacation."

During his visit to the city, Paul met Ricky Rubio in an event organized by his own brand CP, which belongs to the Jordan brand inside the Nike group.

They both were in the street court of Sants in Barcelona. Ricky appeared with a plaster in his right arm due to the surgery he recently underwent: "The doctors just checked the status of my wrist yesterday with a scan. I am looking forward to play again. The ACB already started and the Euroleague is also about to start. My team won two out of three and it gives up hopes about a good season"

Ricky arrived first to the court, greeted everybody there and talked to the relatives of Chris Paul present there. Then a van with tainted glasses appeared. Everybody knew that Paul was inside there and ran to it. Paul stepped off of the van and went to meet his family. There he quickly recognized Ricky and they both started to chat with each other.

Afterwards, it was time for the 3-on-3 tournament. Ricky and Paul coached the teams that reached the final game. It was fun for both the stars and the kids playing there. The winners got their prize directly from Ricky and Paul's hands.

Chris Paul sign a Hornets jersey

Finally, in the press conference they talked enthusiastically about each other. Paul started his speech praising the early achievements of Ricky: "It's crazy what he's already done. I am 23 and I think in the things I've done, but he is only 17, it's crazy! He has already been in the Olympics. I've played 3 years in college and 3 years in the NBA before going to the Olympics. He will come to the NBA to steal my job."

Then Ricky went on saying that "it's incredible that a star like Chris Paul says such things of him. Not much time ago I was watching him play on TV and now he is sitting here by my side."

Ricky does not want to talk now about his future in the NBA: "Right now I do not think in the NBA. I follow the league, but now I belong to the ACB. I am under contract with DKV Joventut. I wouldn't do the things the way I should do them if I were currently thinking in the NBA."

Coming back to the Olympics, Paul talked about the final game as "the greatest game I've ever played, in my life. When I met Ricky on the court, I knew he had very long arms and I couldn't play much with the ball or he would steal it from me. He is also very unselfish, he has great passing skills. He is like me, we don't try to score, and we try to find the open man to help the team"

And about the NBA, we asked Chris Paul what did he think about the player who beat him for the Regular Season MVP and that also was his teammate during the summer: Kobe Bryant. Paul answered that "It was the first time that we played together and it was a great moment. He is a great competitor. In everything I do in my life I hate to lose more than I like to win. Kobe is also like that. I've played in very good teams when I was younger, but this was the best team I've played in my life with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Jason Kidd..."