Rudy Fernandez’s record: Six Olympic Games

After qualifying for the Paris Olympics, the captain of the Spanish team, Rudy Fernández, claimed this Sunday that the team is a “family” that “left a lot” in their preparations before the Olympics, and the reason he thanked all his players is because “they left everything on the court”.

Rudy, who will retire from professional basketball after the Olympics, explained that experiencing a sixth Olympic Games (becoming the first player in history to achieve this) is “very special”, but so are the other players: “They were lucky to live to be five and if they had been six they would have been very happy, but we are a family and we asked them to fight and compete for the Olympics”, insisted the Mallorcan forward.

The captain of the national team stressed that now he “has to enjoy this Olympics”, his last as a professional, because he promised his father when he died and because now he feels “very grateful for the work” he has done to reach this tournament. In this respect and to be able to “continue to enjoy this team and this family”, he will stay there.

“They are legends,” he emphasized, referring to the presence in the box of former players Pau Gasol and Victor Claver, who the veterans are now trying to “pass that on to the younger generation.” “I was lucky to be part of this team for more than 20 years and I enjoyed it a lot. It was very special to play for the first team before the Olympics,” he explained.

“It was only a few days of work, with many training sessions and it was very hard work. It was worth the effort and the sacrifices. We got the best reward,” concluded Rudy Fernández.

Meanwhile, Mallorca boss Sergio Llull said Sunday was an “incredible job” that understood it was “another battle against a very physical team.”

“Our defense was the key, it was very important because we have a team with NBA players and they were very good one-on-one,” said Llull, who insisted he was very happy with his Olympic qualification.