(Ed. Note: Canis Hoopus is an amazing community filled with many dedicated commenters and contributors. Antrodax is one of them and was kind enough to translate a recent interview with Ricky Rubio. There's tons of great stuff here. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we did.)

Canal + basketball expert Antoni Daimiel and Minnesota Timberwolves' point guard Ricky Rubio gathered in front of the cameras again after another NBA season for the Spaniard. This is like the official end of the season for Rubio. Every summer he sits down with Antoni for an extended interview.

The two chatted about his ankle injury, the #1 pick, teammates, Flip Saunders, and several other topics during 35 minutes. I did my best to translate this for all of the non-Spanish-fluent CH-ers. Excuse me for my constant and shameful mistakes. Hope you enjoy.

Ricky, thank you for being here after another NBA season. Unfortunately, we must talk about injuries again. What’s your summary of this season, in which you played 22 games?

Well, it was marked by injuries. The big "but" of the season were injuries. But I always draw positives, and the injuries always teach you something ... especially this second one (ankle), because the first (ACL) taught me how to waste my time and during this I’ve learned how not to waste my time.

I’ve taken advantage of it mentally, and helping my teammates. Though I couldn’t help them on the court, I noticed they needed my support in the locker room, especially with such a young team. I felt like a veteran and the leader, and that helped me realize how important I am for the team.

Sixteen wins wasn’t enough, but the feelings don’t match that record at all.

So, everybody is more optimistic than the average fan about all that trajectory of playoff-less and injury-ridden seasons?

Yes. Overall, I was asking all the time and comparing this season with the two seasons prior to coming to Minnesota and everybody said that the mood was not the same at all. This year the people really wanted to win, to be where there is a project, a future, and that helps a lot.

The injuries have affected the team a lot. Mine, then Pekovic and Martin, three very important players, and the young ones couldn’t look to any veteran for support. That's taken a toll, but the young ones have been forced to develop faster and the project has moved forward.

I’m gonna ask you to give us a didactic explanation about your injury. At the beginning, it looked like a sprained ankle, then they said a severe sprain and you are out two months. Then you’re back and one month before the season ends you stop playing again. We learned that you were aching and had an exploratory arthroscopy, they named it, to clean it and take a look at the foot. Tell us about it.

I was injured on November 7 in Orlando. I sprained my ankle and I was aware that it was quite severe, because I was lying on the floor and they came to look after me and I saw Corey [Brewer].

Corey Brewer was looking at your ankle?

Yes, I saw Corey and he had a very nasty expression in his face and said some English words that I’m not going to repeat. Then I looked at my ankle and noticed it was already very swollen. It’s not usually that instantly swollen, in a matter of seconds. When I couldn’t land on my foot I knew it was very serious.

First we took it as a sprained ankle, but then we found that there were muscular problems. My big toe didn't have any strength and that extended the recovery. I focused on having a complete, and as fast as possible, recovery. I found out that I couldn’t recover when I wanted to, and I started to collect medical opinions, but they gave me the "OK" and, despite my nuisances, they told me that if I forced a bit, it could aggravate it.

I started to play, even when it bothered me.

So those 18 games, with some good ones like a triple-double, the injury was still bothering you?

Yes, I felt some light nuisances, but talking to the doctors we saw there wasn't anything to worry about, that things were not going to get worse. That was what convinced me to play.

At some points, the discomfort in my ankle was actually aggravating, especially after a hit I took in Oklahoma. I decide to stop, to see if stopping one or two weeks could get rid of those nuisances. While not receding, we got more aggressive and the call was made to get surgery done. It was my last resort, but I did it because we weren’t in the playoffs. The season was almost over and there was no need to force things.

Has Minnesota studied if this injury bug is only bad luck, or if this can be related to physical conditioning, the medical team, and so on? It’s too much bad luck, too many years and too many players.

Too much bad luck. If you look at the injuries, it’s a lot of bad luck. I tripped on some Magic player’s foot, Kevin Martin fell on his hand. Pek has a bad ankle and had surgery to help him with it … those are unavoidable injuries. It’s not a pretty thing to start pointing fingers.

I hope that our luck is improving. We have a good start with the #1 pick in the draft. We’ll see if it continues next season...

Those last year's, at the beginning of the season, when I looked at the Minnesota squad there were some good players. You can think, this is the year. And then, the injuries come. There were four of you that haven’t played at least half of the games: Pekovic, Martin , You and Shabazz Muhammad, who was playing well. How is the front office planning the future, with the #1 pick and all? Are there players that have been marked as injury prone?

It’s difficult, but the players that have been with the team for many years like me, or Pekovic, or even Kevin Martin, who is in his third season, the front office has put a lot of confidence in them. We know that players who spend three, four, five years with a team are scarce in the NBA. They rotate a lot, and there are many one or two year players on every team.

Let’s see if the injuries respect us and we can show what is this team made of, because as I have said before, we feel that yes, we won 16 games, but we would be fighting for a playoff spot if we were healthy.

What is your particular stance about the #1 pick? There is a consensus that it is a very good draft, with six or seven very good players. There are two dominant centers, but you have Pekovic and Gorgui Dieng. It caught my eye that Glen Taylor said after the draft lottery that there are very good players to choose but he could trade it too. What do you think? When you pass one of these players, and they grow into a star, everybody has regrets.

The #1 pick gives you plenty of options. You must study every option very thoroughly. Glen Taylor is a business man and I guess that he is going to study them all.

I think the latest drafts have shown that #1 picks are franchise players. We have Blake Griffin, John Wall, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving, Wiggins. They are players that have carried their teams to victories.

Personally, I think that we need veteran players, but this draft cannot be wasted, especially the #1 pick. We can have the center spot covered but competence is always good and you never can know how a #1 pick is going to work out.

This week, a journalist named Chad Ford said that people surrounding you have been asking for a trade. You have denied it, saying that you want to help grow Minnesota, the franchise that put its confidence in you.

Yes, I knew nothing about it. I called my agents to check if they knew something, They said that it's not true. They denied everything. There will always be rumors.

Okay, it could be that there was nothing to publish and a journalist forged something but it could also be some kind of leak from Minneapolis or any of the parts involved.

When a rumor pops up, not always, but normally there is something behind it. Personally, what I know is that neither me or my agents have done it. I doubt the franchise would like to leak this because they have always instilled a lot of confidence in me. Talking to Flip Saunders, he would have said it to me. I think we have a very good relationship, very good feelings, and we have never talked about anything like that.

For what I can say, it’s not true. But in this league, except LeBron and another three or four players, everybody is tradeable. You never know. Kevin Love wanted to get out and Cleveland traded the #1 pick, which was very well regarded by the franchise. You never know, but I’m staying in Minnesota.

Talking about that good feeling with Flip Saunders. Is he still coaching or is going to stay in the front office?

I think his desire is to coach, to have another opportunity, because this season he didn't with all of the injuries. The young players respect him. He's a very experienced coach and we hope that it will work.

I don’t know if you have seen Okafor and Towns. Who do you like more or who is the best fit for the team?

I’ve seen them playing in college, but the NBA is different. They both are very good but bring different things. One is more defensive minded and the other more offensive minded. One has better shooting, the other more inside scoring. I couldn’t say one way or another -- (Daimiel interrupts) maybe the team needs more defense? (Rubio answers) We conceded a lot of points, but injuries can be blamed for it too. Any of the two options can be good.

I want to ask you about several teammates. First, the Rookie of the Year, Andrew Wiggins. We have talked about him before and you praised him. Have you confirmed all of those good feelings about him? Is he going to become one of the greatest players over these next years?

Yes. Wiggins has proven one thing, especially at the end of the season when he became more adapted to the league, and it’s that he is made for the NBA. There are few players that can create his own shot. Harden is one, LeBron too. They are stars that shine in this league. He has proven that he is fearless and he is going to help us a lot. He is going to be an All-Star, for sure, and maybe some day even MVP, and I hope I can lead this team alongside him to go very far.

Kevin Garnett. First he was your idol, then you had him as a rival, a nasty and hateful player to have in front of you, and then as a teammate. I imagine that he is like God in Minnesota.

I had very high hopes and I was very surprised. Imagine that. We share one thing and that is ambition. From the very beginning I’ve learned a lot from him. He's a very experienced player that has spent 20 years in the league.

We usually have a practice session before games, around 10:30 am, and he was there by 10:00; sweating, practicing his stuff, with 20 years in the league. He talks a lot, and very well. Of course, there were some dressing-downs (laughs).

He's very nice. Off the court, he's a great teammate. I missed the opportunity to talk with him about Gasol’s dunk on him, but I didn’t dare bring it up. I was really surprised with him in a good way.

What about those rumored measures, to get rid of mobile phones and things like that?

What he imposed is to be the vocal leader, to lead towards winning. Everything he does from the time he wakes up in the morning to the end of the game is meant to win. If he has to shout at or hug a teammate, he does it.

He's the first to care about his teammates. If somebody needs ice and nobody is attending him, he's the first to reaching for it, and that's something we appreciate.

If the practice ends and you want to go to the showers, but he is still in the court…

You can go away, but then you lose his respect. You have his respect until the moment you don’t try everything to win. Then he is not going to help you. You are with him or against him.

About some other young players... Anthony Bennett. Everybody is talking about how you are going to put the last three #1 picks together, but Bennett has never produced like a #1.

He has never had self-confidence. He didn’t start well in Cleveland and he arrived at Minnesota as a clean sheet. The injuries have restrained him. The fact that another #1, also a Canadian, was alongside him on the team hasn’t helped either. Too much pressure. We are talking about players that are 20 or 21-years-old. The pressure has affected him, but we hope this summer he can evolve.

Do you think that he can be an important player? It seems that when he enters the court shows a lot of energy, but two or three minutes later he crumbles.

Yes. He must work on his confidence. He has the physical tools, the talent, he must believe it. This last summer he worked with a very good personal training, focusing on change. It helped him at the beginning of the season, but then the injuries came and the lack of results made him a little nervous. He is 20 and everything affected him.

Have you been introduced to this trainer that worked along Bennett and Muhammad in the summer?

(Laughs) No, I wasn’t. I keep training with my Spanish people and I'm very happy. In the last World Cup, I was in a very good form after one of the first summers that I had plenty of time for myself and I was very glad. I hope this summer, after the injury, I will be able to work hard and get well.

In USA they are always trying to embellish histories. Muhammad’s physical change was notable but everything sounds better with the history of an ex-Marine helping him and so on.

Yes. We joked about a photo of a shirtless Muhammad showing his abs, and there was Mo Williams, he was not very fit, but he was saying "very good abs, but let’s take a shooting contest to see if the abs can shoot." We all laughed about it.

Zach LaVine made himself known through the Dunk Contest and he played a lot of minutes and played well, due to injuries. Are you compatible on the court?

Yes, I think so. We have talked about this a lot with the coach. They made him play as a PG at the beginning of the season, but I think that he is a natural SG. I always like to play alongside another player who can handle the ball, and his physical skills made him a good match with my game. We can blend very well together.

Talk to me about your decision to get away from the national squad this summer due to the injury and to correspond with the Minnesota team who trusted you. You have played an average of 50 games in the last four seasons for them.

It was a tough decision. I’ve always said that if I'm fit, I’m going to get along the national squad. This year I thought I couldn’t make it in time -- the cartilage needs a certain recovery time and if you shorten it could be bad, not now, but for the future, and I wanted to correspond with Minnesota. If I was able to recover, there is no doubt that I would be with the national squad. Resting this year doesn’t mean that it's a definitive goodbye to the national squad. It’s only a pause to be well for another occasion.

Neither you nor [Jose] Calderón are going to be with Spain. Is there somebody that you like to take the PG spot or is there enough with the players that have been there before?

That is a question for Sergio (Scariolo), but I think the other two Sergio's -- Sergi Llull and Sergio Rodríguez -- can spare the PG spot. If they want to bring along a third PG there were several players that have done a good job in the Endesa League like, for instance, Pau Ribas. He came up short of making the team last year and he is in very good form. Also, Josep Franch, who has spent some preseasons with us and several others.

How have you seen your Spanish teammates in the NBA this season? A great season for the Gasol brothers, again.

Yes. Being All-Star starters is the cherry in the pie. Every year they surprised us more. It seemed like Pau was going to Chicago to play a lesser role than we're used to seeing and he finished playing a lead role. He was Chicago’s best player and they have reached what they reached because of him. Marc was his team’s leader too, without a doubt.

[Ed. Note: reading "cherry in the pie" made us smile. We all know what he means]

Another difficult season for Calderón. Another team with a lot of losses and injuries, too.

Yes, they were not winning. A rebuilding team, more raw than Minnesota. It helped him evolve.

Have you talked to Serge Ibaka? He has suffered some injuries too.

It was a difficult year. Oklahoma was a team known precisely for avoiding injuries. Westbrook, Durant and Serge were the players that have played most of the games through the years. They keep playing together, and this year the coin went tails. A player that relies so heavily on his physical prowess, like Serge, paid for it.

I want to ask you about Stephen Curry as the best representative of the league PG's, as the MVP. You have played a good game against the Warriors this year. Against the Clippers too, with the triple-double, and against Portland, with Lillard. There are still a lot of great PG's in the league. Is Curry the best one?

It depends on which night [laughs]. In the NBA, I can recall a very good level in PG's lately, but not so many good ones like now. The other day I was chatting with a friend about how crazy it is that Mike Conley cannot be an All-Star. Later we reviewed the All-Star point guards and everybody deserved it. It’s very difficult to say.

Stephen Curry is very hard to defend because he has a very quick and very effective release. I struggled more against more physical players. Westbrook for instance. It looked like a wasted season for him due to injuries and at the end he was an MVP contender. Damian Lillard is a very good shooter too, John Wall is very physical. We could keep talking about PG's the whole interview.

After the first four games, you got injured in the fifth, you were averaging 11 points and 11 assists. A double-double. Is that where you see yourself after these years in the NBA, and if the injuries respect you a little bit more?

Yes and no. I'm willing to achieve that, but not by the numbers. A lot of people only expect numbers, but my game is not determined by the boxscore but by wins. In those four games we competed against Memphis in the first, won against Detroit in the second, lost against Chicago due to a silly foul in the last second, and in the fourth we won in Brooklyn when they were in a great moment.

That was my objective: to get Minnesota to compete against any team in any game, and I was able to do it. The numbers were also there, but that’s accessories.

Your shooting is something that has been a constant struggle during your career. It’s there but it's not good to turn into an obsession, I suppose.

I’ve learned to deal with it. At the beginning it affected me. One of my seasons with Barça, the shooting issue affected my game. It's something I must improve, of course, but it cannot affect everything else that I can do, the stuff that has brought me where I am. I’ve learned not to worry about it, but I try to improve.

This year I was very much comfortable. Maybe this wasn't one of my best years in percentages, because of injuries too, but I was very comfortable, especially with clutch shots in close games at the end of regulation. The confidence is important. It’s good to have a good percentage, but it’s better to nail them at the end when it counts.

[Ed. Note: Rubio hit a clutch shot to lead the Wolves over the Grizzlies earlier this season ... go to the 1:40 mark]

In the United States, well-known people are usually willing to mingle with political affairs, campaigning or making public donations. In Spain, in the last year or two, people care much more about politics because of the crisis and so on. What about you? You've spent the last year's as a U.S. resident far away, do you keep track of these topics? Do you think that people like you must be involved with it?

It’s a sensitive issue, we are not going to hide it. When an athlete exposes his political ideas in the U.S, the opposite faction understand it and respect that he has opted by some other ideological standing.

In Spain, if you get involved, competence is way bigger. The other people are going to jump on your back and It’s not worth the trouble. The entertainer, at the end, keeps it private only to shake off all the people, that instead should respect him, because everybody has their own beliefs.

Have you embraced the American way of life? If you could be an NBA player while living in El Masnou would you choose to do it?

No doubt. But in the U.S. I live very well and have adapted beautifully to Minnesota. I was afraid to go to Minnesota, it was unknown to me, but now it's one of my favorite cities. People are surprised when hearing this, because the first thing that pops in their heads is "Minnesota is cold."

It's the most negative point. Minnesota is a city with great restaurants and with great people. It’s not big city people. I like that Minnesotans are from Minnesota. They don’t come from other cities, so the city has a special taste that I’m very comfortable with. I like it a lot.

[Eds. Note: And you thought you couldn't like Ricky any more? Yeah, good luck with that]

We are closing with your summer plans. First the recovery and then what? Are you going to train during your holidays too?

Very few holidays, this year. The recovery takes five sessions a week, and I can’t spare any week. I’m not going to miss it, because my challenge is that the next season would be "the season." It’s hard basketball related because I can’t do much, but I can evolve physically; a very important aspect in the NBA.

Where are you going to watch the Eurobasket? Are you going to travel there?

In August and the first two weeks of September. I’m planning to attend in Los Angeles to train, because by then I will be starting to see the court finally. Until July I cannot withstand any impact, due to the cartilage, to avoid damage, and until the end of July I’m not going to touch the basketball again.

It’s going to be a long re-adaptation. I have lived it before with my knee and know the most important thing is the muscular recovery.

Thank you, Ricky. We hope to see you at full speed in October with Minnesota, and playing in the playoffs with them.

[Ed. Note: Again, special thanks to Antrodax for translating this interview and we hope our edits helped make this an even more enjoyable read for the community here]