I looked at some of Rubio's stats for these first 3 games. They paint a picture of a man giving exactly zero fucks right now. He's going for it. He's living his best life.
I don't know what's gotten into him, but at age 31, after a 15 year pro career helping other people put the ball in the basket, Ricky has apparently decided he's an offensive juggernaut and a top 2 scoring option.
He's operating at a usage of 24.6%, which is BY FAR a career high and totally preposterous for a guy known as a non-shooting facilitator.
He's launching 6.7 3pt shots per game. You know what his previous high was? 3.7 in the 2018-2019 season. Career average is 2.7.
He's making 3 bombs per game too. Before this season, he'd NEVER averaged more than 1.2 makes from the perimeter.
And Rubio's not just scoring. His assist average of 9.0 is, of course, a career high. So is a TS% of .638, to pick just a few. I could go on and on.
So, what do you do with him? You can't bench a guy who's on a hot streak for the ages. You just can't. The basketball gods forbid it. We have to ride with Ricky for now. Even with him also averaging an eye-watering 3.7 turnovers (career high, naturally).
Of course we all would like to think this is sustainable in some way. But it's not. Otherwise, Ricky Rubio would be a lock for Most Improved Player... at age 31.
But for now, let the man go buck wild for once in his career.