LINARES (Spain) - A star was well and truly born at FIBA U16 EuroBasket in 2006.
Rubio was already producing insane numbers leading into the Final, but then exploded for something even more extraordinary:
51 POINTS, 24 REBOUNDS, 12 ASSISTS.
The MVP of all MVPs.
The teenage sensation willed Spain over the line in an incredible 49-minute effort to defeat Russia 110-106 in double overtime - sealing his country's first title at the event.
In the 20 years since, Rubio went on to become a two-time FIBA EuroBasket champion with triumphs in 2009 and 2011, before playing a key role as the MVP once again in winning the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 title.
The 2006 event on home soil was where the hype became real, and the future of Rubio in a national team jersey was set in stone.
Rubio did it all in the Spanish municipalities of Andujar and Linares - leading the tournament in points, rebounds, assists and steals, with an impressive efficiency rating of 33.1 per game.
The point guard unsurprisingly headlined the All-Star Five as the MVP, where he was joined in the lineup by Dejan Musli, Aleksandr Karpukhin, Luca Campani and Dino Muric.
Rubio not only became the first player to record a triple-double at FIBA U16 EuroBasket - since the data was collected - he remains the only male player to register a quadruple-double in FIBA Youth EuroBasket history.
The next statline even crazier than the last.
Stage | Opponent | Result | Statline |
|---|---|---|---|
Group Phase | Russia | 91-76 | 24 PTS, 11 REB, 10 AST, 7 STL |
Group Phase | Slovenia | 80-73 | 15 PTS, 11 REB, 5 STL |
Group Phase | Germany | 90-63 | 20 PTS, 8 REB, 6 STL |
Quarter-Final Round | Serbia & Montenegro | 95-79 | 22 PTS, 20 REB, 8 AST, 6 STL |
Quarter-Final Round | France | 85-63 | 15 PTS, 9 REB |
Quarter-Final Round | Italy | 79-72 | 20 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST, 7 STL |
Semi-Final | Croatia | 106-82 | 19 PTS, 10 REB, 13 AST, 11 STL |
Final | Russia | 110-106 | 51 PTS, 24 REB, 12 AST, 7 STL |
20 years on, and it's still hard to imagine those kind of numbers being replicated again.
FIBA