Ricky Rubio’s Ankle Injury Caused Muscle and Ligament Damage

It’s been nearly 11 weeks since Ricky Rubio went down gruesomely with a high left ankle sprain.

The Minnesota Timberwolves (7-34) are injury-riddled and terrible, and certainly won’t be rushing Rubio back to the court.

Team president and head coach Flip Saunders told the press Wednesday that Rubio also suffered some muscle and ligament damage, prolonging the recovery process.

Per the AP:

“It’s not him not wanting to play or not working,” Saunders said before Wednesday night’s game against Dallas. “He’s doing everything he can. We as an organization and the doctors who are involved have been the ones who have tried to hold him back.”

 

Saunders said Rubio, who signed a four-year, $55 million contract extension in October that will kick in next season, visited two specialists recently and both cautioned that a return too soon could cause a stress fracture in his leg that would only compound his problems.

 

“It’s a very unique ankle sprain,” Saunders said. “They said at the time it’s going to be worse than a high ankle sprain, and everyone knows those go eight to 12 weeks. So it has nothing to do with him not wanting to play.”