By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
One of Spain’s biggest stars is enjoying retirement.
Rudy Fernández said goodbye to basketball, being the player with the most matches played for Spain (266), the most medals won (11), and the most gold medals (6), an amazing career where he defied the odds and shared a locker room with some great players, and one above all of them.
In a recent interview with AS, the Real Madrid legend talked about his years as a player and had no doubts when choosing the best player he played with. “It’s pretty easy. I’ve been fortunate to play with Pau for many years. With players like Navarro, Llull… I could make you a list. Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge. A very long list. But the one who has had the greatest impact on me professionally and personally has been Luka Doncic. Some players are touched by a magic wand, and Luka is one of them“.
After an amazing year with Joventut Badalona, the NBA called, and he picked up the phone. The Spanish forward set a new record for three-pointers scored by a rookie, but his years in the United States weren’t as good as they could have been… something that was positive in the long run. “It’s true that there were times when the coach trusted a different type of player than me. The NBA is very label-driven, and after setting the three-point record, I was labeled just a shooter. I saw that stagnation as an athlete, but these kinds of things happen, and you shouldn’t point the finger at anyone. If I look back, I’d point the finger at myself for not having tried to mature a little earlier and being able to make decisions on my own, while also listening to my family. These are the kinds of things that life and sports teach you. That’s how I arrived in Madrid as a mature player, and it helped me in my later years become the player I eventually became“.
Like Rudy said, he was a different player when he arrived in Madrid, mainly due to injuries that almost made him retire at a very young age. “In the United States, I was still explosive, just like when I arrived at Real Madrid. Then I had the bad luck of a second and third operation, and that’s when they told me the disc was very irritated, very worn, and that I had two or three more years as a professional. It was a turning point where you realize that, apart from your game, you have to change a lot of habits. Dietarily, physically, mentally, and that’s what I did. I worked hard on all of those aspects, and I can become the player I was at the end of my career. That helped me rebuild my entire game to continue contributing positively to the team and achieve the collective goals, which was what I had in mind”.