National Basketball Association

The Timberwolves lost their minds after Ricky Rubio's shocking dunk

Published Mar. 22, 2016 3:47 p.m. ET

foxsports

Ricky Rubio is a relatively large, modestly athletic point guard. He's 6'4", weighs under 200 pounds and is quick like a cat. But, oddly enough, the Minnesota Timberwolves starter has zero dunks in his NBA career.

Zero. Point. Zero. Rubio isn't a giant, but he is as tall as Dwyane Wade, Victor Oladipo, Marcus Smart and John Wall. These people have dunked many times.

He should have at least one to his name, and going from the reaction Rubio's teammates had after watching him throw down in a layup line at Monday night's game against the Golden State Warriors, what we might be witnessing is the first dunk of Rubio's entire life*:

Ricky dunking!!! pic.twitter.com/PJ7FcIYHer
— Sara Wunderlich (@TaylorMade729) March 22, 2016

*It probably wasn't the first dunk of his life. But, still, think about how much more efficient Rubio could be if he attacked the basket looking to dunk.

The league's shooting average inside the restricted area is 60.1 percent. Rubio has made 51.4 percent of his attempts in that space this season. This is not good.

But beyond, you know, putting the ball in the basket, Rubio contributes in so many other ways. He's a tremendous passer, rebounder and defender, and the Timberwolves are much better when he's on the court than off it.

But Rubio has never finished a season with his head above 40 percent from the floor, which is a devastating black eye on any NBA player's resume. A stable jumper would be nice, but for now Rubio should simply focus on getting his first dunk. That's clearly a top priority, if only for the fact that it makes Karl-Anthony Towns smile.