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A bundled-up Ricky Rubio was at yesterday's Lake Calhoun Polar Plunge providing moral support, but he didn't dive into the water himself.
Asked by Fox 9's weatherman/Elvis impersonator Ian Leonard why he wasn't jumping in, Ricky made it sound like he just didn't want to. But Dan Barreiro's Friday KFAN interview with Timberwolves boss Flip Saunders suggests there's more to the story than that.
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"It can't be good having any athlete doing a Polar Plunge and then going out to play that night," Saunders said in response to Barreiro him why Ricky wouldn't be diving in the freezing water himself. "So as soon as I found out [Ricky wanted to do it], that wasn't going to be an option."
Saunders expressed concern about how Ricky's body would respond to the juxtaposition of being submerged in freezing water, then hours later warming up for Saturday night's game at the Target Center against Portland.
We're not sure whether refraining from the Polar Plunge had anything to do with it, but Ricky ended up having a great game for the Wolves during their 121-113 victory over the Blazers -- a win capped off by Rubio, who finished with 13 points, 15 assists, and eight rebounds, hitting this dagger 3-pointer with a minute left: