For a Few Dollars More (Italian: Per qualche dollaro in più) is a 1965 Italian spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Gian Maria Volonté.^[3] German actor Klaus Kinski also plays a supporting role as a secondary villain. The film was released in the United States in 1967 and is the second part of what is commonly known as the Dollars Trilogy.

Plot[link]

Eastwood (as the Man with No Name) and Van Cleef (as Colonel Douglas Mortimer and the "Man in Black") portray two bounty hunters in pursuit of "El Indio" (Gian Maria Volonté), one of the most wanted fugitives in the western territories, and his gang. Indio is a ruthless, intelligent man. He has a musical pocketwatch that he plays before engaging in gun duels. "When the chimes finish, begin", he says. Flashbacks reveal that the watch originates from a young woman (Rosemary Dexter), who killed herself while being raped by Indio after he had found her with her lover (in Joe Millard's novelization of the film, the young man is her newly-wed husband) and killed him. The watch bears a photo of the woman and was presented as a gift by the young man before being killed.

Colonel Mortimer (Cleef) illegally stops a train in Tucumcari, and soon after collects a bounty of $1,000 on Guy Calloway (José Terrón). Mortimer's gunslinging skill is displayed as he easily kills him from long distance. After collecting the bounty he inquires about Red "Baby" Cavanagh (José Marco), who has a $2,000 bounty, and was last seen in White Rocks.

Mortimer is told that Cavanagh has already been targeted by Eastwood's character, who is referred to as "Manco" (meaning one-armed in Spanish — see below for an explanation). We see Manco ride into town and track down Cavanagh at a saloon playing five-card draw poker. Manco kills him and his men, and takes the bounty. Eventually, the two bounty hunters, after learning about each other from different sources, meet in El Paso and, after butting heads, decide to team up to take down Indio and his gang.

Indio's primary goal is to rob the Bank of El Paso and its disguised safe containing "almost a million dollars." Mortimer persuades a reluctant Manco to join Indio's gang during the robbery in order to "get him between two fires." Manco is offered membership in the gang after rescuing one of Indio's friends from prison.

When Indio robs the bank, he brings the gang and the money to the small border town of Agua Caliente, where Mortimer reunites with Manco. The hunchback Wild (Klaus Kinski) recognizes the Colonel from a previous encounter in which the Colonel had deliberately insulted him and forces a showdown in which he is killed by the Colonel. The Colonel then proves his worth to Indio by cracking open the safe without using explosives, but Indio states his intention to wait a month if necessary to allow the furor over the bank robbery to die down and locks the money away. Manco and the Colonel plan to steal the bank money from Indio, but the bandits catch them in the act and severely beat them. Indio's right-hand man Nino (Mario Brega), on orders from Indio, kills their guard and releases the bounty hunters. Indio informs his gang that they "got away", and sends them after the escaped bounty hunters. He intends to kill off his gang with the bounty killers while he and Nino take all the loot for themselves. However, the smarter Groggy (Luigi Pistilli) figures out what Indio is up to, and kills Nino. Before he can kill Indio, he finds that the Colonel has already removed the stolen money from where Indio had hidden it. Indio convinces Groggy to join forces with him to trap the bounty-killers. The next morning, Manco and Mortimer shoot down the gang, one by one, in the streets of the town. Standing alone, Mortimer shoots Groggy when the outlaw tries to run for it, but then has his gun shot out of his hand by Indio, who then takes out his pocketwatch and begins playing it. As the chimes nears the end, Manco suddenly appears with an identical pocketwatch, playing the same tune as Indio's, which Mortimer realizes had been taken from him earlier. As this happens, Manco holds an 1854 Jennings Rifle Company Volcanic Rifle on Indio and gives his gunbelt and pistol to Mortimer, evening the odds. "Now we start", Manco announces and sits while Mortimer and Indio face off. During the standoff, Manco looks down at the pocketwatch and sees the same picture of the woman Indio had raped. The music finishes, and Mortimer outdraws and guns down Indio.

At this juncture, Mortimer takes Indio's pocketwatch. Manco gives him back the other watch and remarks on a family resemblance; the Colonel replies, "Naturally, between brother and sister", indicating that the young woman's portrait was that of Mortimer's sister. His revenge complete, he decides to take no part of the bounty. As Manco tosses Indio's body into a wagon with the corpses of the rest of the gang and counts them by the reward for each one, he realizes he is short of the $27,000 total, and spins around to gun down Groggy who had survived and was sneaking up behind him to kill him. As he leaves, he recovers the money stolen from the Bank of El Paso, though it is not clear whether he intends to return it. He then rides off into the distance with his horse towing the wagon full of the lifeless bodies of the entire gang.

Cast[link]

Leads[link]

• Clint Eastwood as Manco (the "Man with No Name", the nickname means "one-handed/one-armed").
• Lee Van Cleef as Colonel Douglas Mortimer
• Gian Maria Volonté as El Indio ("The Indian")

Gang members[link]

• Mario Brega as Niño, member of Indio's gang
• Luigi Pistilli as Groggy, member of Indio's gang
• Aldo Sambrell as Cuchillo, member of Indio's gang
• Klaus Kinski as Wild, the hunchback, member of Indio's gang
• Benito Stefanelli as Hughie (aka Luke), member of Indio's gang^[4]
• Luis Rodríguez as Manuel, member of Indio's gang
• Panos Papadopulos as Sancho Perez, member of Indio's gang
• Werner Abrolat as Slim, Member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
• Eduardo García as Fausto, member of Indio's Gang (uncredited)
• Enrique Santiago as Miguel, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
• Antonio Molino Rojo as Frisco, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
• Frank Brana as Blackie, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
• José Canalejas as Chico, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)
• Nazzareno Natale as Paco, member of Indio's gang (uncredited)

Other characters[link]

• Dante Maggio as Carpenter in cell with El Indio
• Diana Rabito as Calloway's girl in tub
• Giovanni Tarallo as Santa Cruz telegraphist
• Joseph Egger as Old Prophet
• Lorenzo Robledo as Tomaso, El Indio's traitor
• Mara Krupp as Mary, hotel manager's wife
• Mario Meniconi as Train conductor
• Roberto Camardiel as Station clerk
• Sergio Mendizábal as Tucumcari's bank manager
• Tomás Blanco as Tucumcari's sheriff
• Rosemary Dexter as Mortimer's Sister (uncredited)
• Peter Lee Lawrence as Mortimer's Brother-in-Law (uncredited)

Production[link]

After the box-office success of A Fistful of Dollars in Italy, director Sergio Leone and his new producer, Alberto Grimaldi, wanted to begin production of a sequel, but they needed to get Clint Eastwood to agree to star in it. Eastwood was not ready to commit to a second film when he had not even seen the first. Quickly, the filmmakers rushed an Italian-language print (a U.S. version did not yet exist) of Per un pugno di Dollari to him. The star then gathered a group of friends for a debut screening at CBS Production Center and, not knowing what to expect, tried to keep expectations low by downplaying the film. As the reels unspool, however, Eastwood's concerns proved to be unfounded. The audience may not have understood Italian, but in terms of style and action, the film spoke volumes. "Everybody enjoyed it just as much as if it had been in English", Eastwood recalled. Soon, he was on the phone with the filmmakers' representative: "Yeah, I'll work for that director again", he said. Charles Bronson was again approached for a starring role but he passed, citing that the sequel's script was like the first film.^[5] Instead, Lee Van Cleef accepted the role. Eastwood received $50,000 for returning in the sequel, while Van Cleef received $17,000.^[1] The film was shot in Almería, Spain, with interiors done at Rome's Cinecittà Studios.^[1]

The production designer, Carlo Simi built the town of "El Paso" in the Almería desert:^[6] it still exists, as a tourist attraction Mini Hollywood. The town of Agua Caliente, where Indio and his gang flee after the bank robbery, is Albaricoques, a small "pueblo blanco" on the Níjar plain.

As all of the film's footage was shot silent, Eastwood and Van Cleef returned to Italy where they dubbed over their dialogue and sound effects were added.^[7]

Characters[link]

Manco[link]

In the English-dubbed version of the film, Eastwood's character is said to "go by the name of 'Manco.'"^[8] "Manco" is a Portuguese/Spanish word that means "one-armed" and "lame of one hand" in Spanish and "hand cripple" in Portuguese (Portugal), but "limp" in Brazil; Eastwood's character performs nearly all actions using only his left hand, to leave free his right hand, with which he draws. His behavior thus bears a joking resemblance to that of a one-armed man.

In the original Italian version, Eastwood's character's sobriquet is "Monco", the Italian equivalent of the word "manco". Thus in many written sources,^{[citation needed]} the Man with No Name is called Monco, due to the Italian form. In any case, the English-dubbed voices of the film's characters seemingly pronounce "Manco" when they refer to him.

El Indio[link]

El Indio (Spanish for "The Indian"), played by Gian Maria Volonté, is a ruthless character, considered by the authorities in the film to be one of the worst criminals of the times; according to a bank official "Not even Indio would dare to rob that one." In a flashback sequence it is revealed that he shot a young man (Peter Lee Lawrence) and raped his wife (Rosemary Dexter). The girl shot herself in the process. The girl was the sister of Van Cleef's character. El Indio smokes what seems to be marijuana or opium to ease the intensity of the memory. In the film El Indio has a gang of fourteen men who rob the bank in El Paso. The act of killing Mortimer's sister distresses him to an ascertainable degree, as it lingers in his memory profoundly; notable in most Sergio Leone films as there being antagonistic or authoritarian characters having psychological or physical disabilities.

Colonel Douglas Mortimer[link]

Colonel Douglas Mortimer is a rival bounty hunter, though he is much older than Eastwood's character: "almost fifty years of age." Manco, Clint Eastwood's character, travels to visit a man known as "The Prophet" early in the movie to find out all he can about his rival. "The Prophet" explains Colonel Douglas Mortimer to have "once been a great man, a soldier" and "the finest shot in the Carolinas. Now he's reduced to being a bounty killer same as you." At the bank in El Paso, Mortimer explains to a bank manager he was from the Carolinas. The bank manager is encouraged by Mortimer's presence, giving the indication Mortimer has a large amount of money elsewhere which the bank of Tucumcari would be glad to accept. Unlike Manco, Mortimer's motivation throughout the movie is not the bounty over El Indio and his gang, but vengeance for the death of Mortimer's sister many years before, who killed herself while being raped by Indio. During an encounter with El Indio in the movie, Mortimer exclaims, "This is Colonel Mortimer, Douglas Mortimer. Does the name mean anything to you?" Having seen the death of Indio, Mortimer leaves all of the bounty to be collected by Manco at the end of the movie. Mortimer says to Manco, after being questioned by Manco about the bounty, "It's all for you, I think you deserve it." Mortimer rides off alone at the end, as his purposes were then completed.

Music[link]

Ennio Morricone composed the film's soundtrack as he did for A Fistful of Dollars: before production had started, under Leone's explicit direction. In fact Leone often shot to Morricone's music on set. In the United States, Hugo Montenegro released a cover version as did Billy Strange and Leroy Holmes who released a cover version of the soundtrack album with the original American poster art. Maurizio Graf sang a vocal "Occhio Per Occhio"/"Eye For An Eye" to the music of the cue "Sixty Seconds to What" track that did not appear in the film but was released as a tie-in 45rpm record.^[9]

Release[link]

The film was released in Italy in December 1965 as Per Qualche Dollaro in Piu.^[10] In the United States, it debuted four months after the release to A Fistful of Dollars, grossing $5 million.^[10]

The film currently holds a 92% rating on Rottentomatoes.com^[11]

References in other media[link]

Lando Buzzanca parodied the film in For a Few Dollars Less (1966).^[10]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Hughes, Howard (2009). Aim for the Heart. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-902-7. 
• Munn, Michael (1992). Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner. London: Robson Books. ISBN 0-86051-790-X. 

External links[link]

• For a Few Dollars More at the Internet Movie Database
• For a Few Dollars More at AllRovi
• For a Few Dollars More at the TCM Movie Database
• For a Few Dollars More at the Spaghetti Western Database
• For a Few Dollars More at Rotten Tomatoes

v t e Cinema of Italy Actors · Directors · Animation · Cinematographers · Composers  · Editors · Producers · Screenwriters Films A-Z · Films by year: 1910 · 1911 · 1912 · 1913 · 1914 · 1915 · 1916 · 1917 · 1918 · 1919 · 1920 · 1921 · 1922 · 1923 · 1924 · 1925 · 1926 · 1927 · 1928 · 1929 · 1930 · 1931 · 1932 · 1933 · 1934 · 1935 · 1936 · 1937 · 1938 · 1939 · 1940 · 1941 · 1942 · 1943 · 1944 · 1945 · 1946 · 1947 · 1948 · 1949 · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011

Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity at King of Prussia Mall (2004)
Born	(1961-12-30) December 30, 1961 (age 50) New York City, New York
Nationality	American
Occupation	Radio host/television host, political commentator, author
Employer	Citadel Broadcasting, Fox News Channel
Known for	Political commentary
Religion	Roman Catholic
Spouse	Jill Rhodes Hannity
Parents	Hugh J. and Lillian F. Hannity
Website
Hannity.com

Sean Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is a television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity, on Fox News Channel. Hannity has written three New York Times–bestselling books:^[1][2] Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism, Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism, and Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama’s Radical Agenda.

Personal background[link]

Hannity is the son of Hugh J. and Lillian F. Hannity. His paternal and maternal grandparents immigrated from Ireland. He has two sisters. He grew up in Franklin Square, New York ^[3] and attended Sacred Heart Seminary in Hempstead, New York during his middle school years and St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary high school in Uniondale, New York.^[4] Hannity dropped out of New York University and Adelphi University.^[5][6]

Professional life[link]

Hannity in a radio and television interview with Vice President of the U.S. Dick Cheney

Hannity hosted his first talk radio show in 1989 at the volunteer college station at UC Santa Barbara, KCSB-FM, while working as a general contractor. The show aired for 40 hours of air time;^[7] Regarding his first show, Hannity has said, "I wasn't good at it. I was terrible."^[8] Hannity's weekly show on KCSB was canceled after less than a year by station managers. This was after two shows featuring the book The AIDS Coverup: The Real and Alarming Facts about AIDS by Gene Antonio; among other remarks made during the broadcast, Hannity told a lesbian caller "I feel sorry for your child".^[9] The station later reversed its decision to dismiss Hannity due in part to a campaign conducted by the Santa Barbara Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Hannity decided against returning to KCSB.^[10]

After leaving KCSB, Hannity placed an ad in radio publications presenting himself as "the most talked about college radio host in America." Radio station WVNN in Athens, Alabama (part of the Huntsville market) then hired him to be the afternoon talk show host.^[7] From Huntsville, he moved to WGST in Atlanta in 1992, filling the slot vacated by Neal Boortz, who had moved to competing station WSB. In September 1996 Fox News co-founder Roger Ailes hired the then relatively unknown Hannity to host a television program under the working title Hannity and LTBD ("liberal to be determined").^[11] Alan Colmes was then hired to co-host and the show debuted as Hannity & Colmes.

Later that year Hannity left WGST for New York, where WABC had him substitute for their afternoon drive time host during Christmas week. In January 1997, WABC put Hannity on the air full-time, giving him the late night time slot. WABC then moved Hannity to the same drive time slot he had filled temporarily a little more than a year earlier. Hannity has been on WABC's afternoon time slot since January 1998.^[12]

Conservative Cal Thomas and liberal Bob Beckel, in their book Common Ground, describe Hannity as a leader of the pack among broadcasting political polarizers, which following James Q. Wilson they define as those who have "an intense commitment to a candidate, a culture, or an ideology that sets people in one group definitively apart from people in another, rival group."^[13]

Television[link]

Hannity was a co-host of Hannity & Colmes, an American political "point-counterpoint"-style television program on the Fox News Channel featuring Hannity and Alan Colmes as co-hosts. Hannity presented the conservative point of view with Colmes providing the liberal viewpoint. Critics argued that the show highlighted Hannity's views and those of conservative guests over Colmes' and those of liberal guests.^[14]

Hannity had on air clashes with show guests such as Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer of Human Life International, who challenged Hannity on his public dissent from the Catholic Church on the issue of contraception.^[15][16] Hannity stated that if the Catholic Church were to excommunicate him over the issue, he would join Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church.^[17]

In January 2007, Hannity began a new Sunday night television show on Fox News, Hannity's America.

In November 2008, Colmes announced his departure from Hannity & Colmes. After the show's final broadcast on January 9, 2009, Hannity took over the time slot with his own new show, Hannity, which has a format similar to Hannity's America

Radio[link]

Hannity's radio program is a conservative political talk show that features Hannity's opinions and ideology related to current issues and politicians. The Sean Hannity Show began national syndication on September 10, 2001 on over 500 stations nationwide.^[18] As of spring 2008, the program is heard by over 13.25 million listeners a week.^[19] In 2004, Hannity signed a $25 million five-year contract extension with ABC Radio (now Citadel Media) to continue the show through 2009.^[20] The program was made available via Armed Forces Radio Network in 2006.^[21] In June 2007, ABC Radio was sold to Citadel Communications^[22] and in the summer of 2008, Hannity was signed for a $100 million five-year contract.^[23]

In January 2007, Clear Channel Communications signed a groupwide three-year extension with Hannity on over 80 stations.^[24] The largest stations in the group deal included KTRH Houston, KFYI Phoenix, WPGB Pittsburgh, WKRC Cincinnati, WOOD Grand Rapids, WFLA Tampa, WOAI San Antonio, WLAC Nashville, and WREC Memphis.

The opening theme music for the Sean Hannity Show is "Independence Day" by Martina McBride followed by "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.

Books[link]

Hannity is the author of three books. The first two, Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism and Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism, were published through ReganBooks. Both of these books reached the nonfiction New York Times bestseller list, the second of which stayed there for five weeks.^[25][26] Hannity has stated that he is too busy to write many books,^[25] and dictated a lot of his own two books into a tape recorder while driving in to do his radio show.^[27]

Hannity wrote his third book, Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama’s Radical Agenda, which was released by HarperCollins on March 30, 2010.^[28] The book became Hannity's third New York Times Bestseller.^[29]

Freedom Concerts[link]

Since 2003, Hannity has hosted country music–themed "Freedom Concerts" to raise money for charity.^[30] According to WHIO, more than $9 million has been raised by the concerts and by WHIO listeners as of 2009.^[31]

Artists such as Charlie Daniels,^[32][33] Billy Ray Cyrus,^[32] Hank Williams, Jr., Ted Nugent, Montgomery Gentry,^[33][34] Martina McBride, Buddy Jewell, LeAnn Rimes, Lee Greenwood,^[32][33] Michael W. Smith,^[32] and Avalon^[33] have headlined at these concerts. Between musical sets, the concerts include short intermissions with politically conservative speakers such as Oliver North, G. Gordon Liddy, Mark Levin, Newt Gingrich, Jon Voight, and Rudy Giuliani. Headlining names for the 2010 concert series were Lynyrd Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels, and Michael W. Smith.^[31][35]

Awards and honors[link]

• Hannity received a Marconi Award in 2003 and 2007 as the Network Syndicated Personality of the Year from the National Association of Broadcasters.^[36]
• In 2009, Talkers Magazine listed Hannity as #2 on their list of the 100 most important radio talk show hosts in America.^[37] The same magazine gave Hannity their Freedom of Speech Award in 2003.^[38]
• In 2005, Jerry Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University, awarded Hannity an honorary degree.^[39]
• Radio and Records magazine has honored Hannity with the National Talk Show Host of the Year Award for three consecutive years.^[40]

Bibliography[link]

• Hannity, Sean (2002). Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty over Liberalism, ReganBooks, ISBN 0-06-051455-8.
• Hannity, Sean (2004). Deliver Us from Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Liberalism, ReganBooks, ISBN 0-06-058251-0.
• Hannity, Sean (2010). Conservative Victory: Defeating Obama’s Radical Agenda, Harper Paperbacks, ISBN 0-06-200305-4.

References[link]

External links[link]

Conservatism portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sean Hannity

• Sean Hannity's official website
• Sean Hannity's biography (Fox News)
• Hannity Official Fox News site
• List of radio stations streaming the Sean Hannity Show
• Sean Hannity's bio and title list from HarperCollins

Eric Bolling (born March 2, 1963) is an American television personality who specializes in financial news and political commentary. He has occupied numerous roles as a commentator on financial issues for television. He was described as "relentlessly upbeat", "hard-charging" and "cheerful" in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.^[1]

Early life[link]

Bolling graduated from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. He attended Duke University after graduating from Rollins. Bolling was drafted in the 22nd round of the 1984 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[1] Eric and his wife Adrienne have a son, Eric Chase.

Career[link]

Bolling was a commodities trader^[1] on the New York Mercantile Exchange. He specialized in trading natural gas, crude oil, gold, and other commodities.

After serving five years on the Board Of Directors at the NYMEX (now CME Group), Bolling became a strategic adviser to the Exchange's Board of Directors. He was included in Trader Monthly Top 100 in 2005 and 2006. Bolling was the recipient of the Maybach Man of the Year Award at the Trader Monthly Awards, January 17, 2007.^[2]

Bolling was involved in developing CNBC's Fast Money. Bolling left CNBC in August 2007 and moved to the new Fox Business Network as one of the network's financial analysts. He hosted the business show Happy Hour, which ran opposite Fast Money in the 5 pm time slot.

Bolling serves as Host of "The Five" on the Fox News Channel. A roundtable discussion of the top political and cultural stories of the day. Eric and political pundit Bob Beckel are known to take strong opposing positions on issues which lead to heated exchanges. (The two, however, have developed a mutual respect, and Bolling perhaps saved Beckel's life in 2011 when he performed the Heimlich Maneuver on him at a local restaurant.) Eric also serves as guest host on many of the most popular Fox News opinion shows such as: The O'Reilly Factor, Fox And Friends, and previously The Glenn Beck Show.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fox Business-bio
• Baseball Reference page for Eric Bolling

Ricky Rubio

No. 9 – Minnesota Timberwolves
Point guard
Personal information
Born	(1990-10-21) October 21, 1990 (age 21) El Masnou, Barcelona, Spain
Nationality	Spain
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft	2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves
Pro career	2005–present
League	NBA
Career history
2005–2009	DKV Joventut Badalona
2009–2011	FC Barcelona Bàsquet
2011–present	Minnesota Timberwolves
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2012) NBA BBVA Rising Star (2012) FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship MVP (2006) 3× FIBA European Young Player of the Year (2007, 2008, 2009) Superbasket Magazine's European Player of the Year: Mr. Europa (2008) Euroleague Rising Star (2010)
Medals Men's Basketball Competitor for  Spain Olympic Games Silver 2008 Beijing National Team FIBA European Championship Gold 2011 Lithuania National Team Gold 2009 Poland National Team

Ricard "Ricky" Rubio i Vives (born October 21, 1990) is a Spanish professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Rubio became the youngest player ever to play in the Spanish ACB League on October 15, 2005, at age 14.^[1][2] He made his Euroleague debut on October 24, 2006, at age 16, becoming the first player born in the 1990s to play in a Euroleague game.^[3] On June 25, 2009, he was drafted with the fifth pick in the first round of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Timberwolves,^[4] making him the first player born in the 1990s to be drafted by the NBA. The Timberwolves had an agreement in principle with his former Spanish team, DKV Joventut, to buy out his contract, but Rubio backed out of the deal.^[5] On August 31, 2009, Joventut traded the rights to Rubio to FC Barcelona,^[6] and Rubio signed a six-year contract with FC Barcelona the following day.^[7] On May 31, 2011, Rubio reached an agreement with Minnesota to join the Timberwolves for the 2011–12 NBA season.^[8]

Player profile[link]

Rubio playing in Spain

Rubio is regarded by some as the best European guard prospect ever.^[9] Rubio has been compared by some to Pete Maravich.^[10]

2009 NBA Draft[link]

On June 24, 2009, the Minnesota Timberwolves acquired the 5th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila and Oleksiy Pecherov from the Washington Wizards, in exchange for Randy Foye and Mike Miller.^[11] With the 5th pick, Minnesota selected Rubio, making him the first player born in the 1990s to be drafted.^[12] The Timberwolves had a total of four first round picks in the 2009 NBA Draft. They used the 6th and 18th picks in the first round and chose two other point guards, Jonny Flynn from Syracuse and Ty Lawson from North Carolina, surprising many in the NBA.^[13][14] Lawson's draft rights were soon traded to the Denver Nuggets.^[14] The Timberwolves then used the 28th pick to select Wayne Ellington, a shooting guard from North Carolina.

The following day, Rubio's father told a Spanish media outlet that his son may return to Spain for at least one more season.^[13] Rubio did not attend an introductory press conference by the Timberwolves.^[15] Rubio had a buyout clause in his Joventut contract reported by various media outlets as ranging from $6.6 million to $8.2 million, and Timberwolves general manager David Kahn admitted that Rubio may have to play one more season in Spain to reduce or avoid the buyout.^[15]

After the draft[link]

On July 22, the Associated Press reported that Rubio was seeking to leave Joventut, regardless of whether he was able to come to the NBA. The report indicated that ACB powers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid were both interested in signing Rubio if he could not immediately come to the NBA. The main stumbling block to Rubio's NBA move was a clause in the league's collective bargaining agreement that prohibits a team from paying more than $500,000 toward a player's contract buyout. Barça and Real, as ACB clubs, are not subject to this rule and could pay far more toward a buyout.^[16] In another development, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported on August 4 that Rubio's representatives had been actively seeking endorsement deals in Minnesota to help finance his buyout (the NBA buyout rules are binding on teams, but not on third parties).^[17]

However, on August 31, 2009, ESPN reported that Rubio would not come to the NBA until 2011 at the earliest.^[6] Joventut expressed a willingness to reduce the buyout, and the Timberwolves apparently had a deal to bring him to the NBA, but in the end Rubio did not feel ready to come across the Atlantic. Rubio issued the following statement:^[5]

Kahn believed that Rubio and his family were being pressured by the Spanish media, his national teammates, and people in his hometown to stay in Spain, adding, "It's just been a tough summer. From an 18-year-old's perspective and his family's perspective, it was very nerve-racking."^[5]

ESPN reported that his original buyout with Joventut was €5.7 million ($8.1 million) in both 2009 and 2010.^[6] Barça bought out Rubio's contract for €3.5 million ($5.0 million), and announced on September 1 that he had signed a six-year deal with the club. The contract gave him the option to go to the NBA after the 2010–11 season,^[18] with ESPN reporting that the buyout at that time would be a more manageable $1.4 million (of which the Timberwolves could pay $500,000).^[5]

Pro career[link]

Spain[link]

Signed jersey of Ricky Rubio (2009)

Rubio debuted in the Spanish ACB League in the 2005-06 season with DKV Joventut. He won the EuroChallenge championship with Joventut that year. He led the Spanish ACB League in steals during the 2006-07 season. He also won the Spanish ACB League's Rising Star Award that season. Rubio was also named the 2007, 2008, and 2009 FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year.^[19] He made his Euroleague debut on October 24, 2006, versus Panathinaikos of Athens as Joventut's backup point guard for Elmer Bennett. Rubio averaged 2.8 assists per game in his first season of Euroleague play. He won the Eurocup championship with Joventut in 2008. He was also voted the Spanish ACB League's best point guard in 2008 and 2010. He won the Euroleague 2009-2010 with FC Barcelona.

Despite his notability, he was carefully shielded. DKV Joventut and Rubio's parents agreed not to make him available for interviews until his 18th birthday on 21 October 2008.^[20] However, the restrictions were ended a few months early once he was selected for the Spanish national team that would play at the 2008 Olympics.^[21]

Rubio won the 2008 Mr. Europa Award, which is given out yearly by the Italian Superbasket Magazine. In 2009, his club Badalona raised the amount of money that his contract paid per year from 80,000 euros net income to 300,000 euros net income.^[22] He was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the Spanish ACB League 2008-09 season, and he also led the league in steals that season. Rubio declared himself eligible for the 2009 NBA Draft on April 20, 2009.^[23][24] Rubio's agent is Dan Fegan.^[25]

Minnesota Timberwolves (2011–present)[link]

On June 1, 2011, sources reported that Rubio had "reached an agreement with Minnesota to join the Timberwolves" for the 2011–12 NBA season.^[8] Rubio arrived off a plane in Minnesota to a barrage of fans waiting to welcome him to America.^[26][27] On June 17, 2011, Rubio held a press conference announcing that he had signed with Minnesota.^[28]

Becoming the 10th Spanish NBA player,^[29] Rubio made his regular season debut on December 26, 2011, to a sellout crowd at Target Center, the team's first sellout crowd since the 2007-08 season. Rubio recorded 6 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in 26 minutes a 4-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.^[30] He was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month after the first month of the season.^[31] In February, Rubio and teammate Derrick Williams were selected to participate in the 2012 Rising Stars challenge. However, Rubio was drafted to Team Shaq, while Williams was drafted to Team Chuck. Rubio scored a career high 22 points on February 19, 2012 in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers.^[32] In a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on March 9, 2012, Rubio tore his ACL and his lateral collateral ligament after colliding into Kobe Bryant. He missed the rest of the season.^[33][34] Rubio finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, trailing only Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Kyrie Irving^[35] Rubio had averaged 10.6 points, 8.2 assists and 2.2 steals in 41 games.

Spanish national team[link]

Under-16 national team[link]

In August 2006, Rubio led the rising junior Spanish national team to the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. During the tournament Rubio achieved two triple-doubles and a quadruple-double. In the 110–106 double overtime finale victory over Russia, Rubio scored 51 points, the first player to do so in FIBA tournaments since Luol Deng (in 2001), grabbed 24 rebounds, made 12 assists, and stole the ball 7 times—a performance unprecedented in the tournament's history. He also forced the first overtime with a three-point, buzzer-beating shot from mid-court. Rubio was subsequently named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament after leading it in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

Senior national team[link]

The young Spaniard was selected to take part in the Spanish National Team which participated at the 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament in Beijing, China. The team was composed of current and former NBA players such as Pau Gasol, José Calderón, Rudy Fernández, Marc Gasol, Raúl López, Jorge Garbajosa, and Juan Carlos Navarro, among others.

He played in the 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament's gold medal game against the USA's "Redeem Team", and thus at 17 became the youngest basketball player to ever play in an Olympic basketball final. Rubio shared the Spanish national team's silver medal after his team suffered a 118–107 loss. The next year he was chosen to play for Spain at the EuroBasket 2009 in Poland, where Spain won the gold medal by defeating Serbia 85–63. During the tournament, Rubio averaged 22.7 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Awards and accomplishments[link]

Joventut[link]

• Spanish King's Cup (1): 2008
• EuroChallenge (1): 2006
• Eurocup (1): 2008
• Catalan Cup Tournament (3): 2005, 2007, 2008

FC Barcelona Basquet[link]

• Spanish League (1): 2010–11
• Spanish King's Cup (2): 2010, 2011
• Euroleague (1): 2010
• Spanish Supercup (2): 2009, 2010
• Catalan Cup Tournament (2): 2009, 2010

Spanish national team[link]

• FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: Bronze Medal (2005)
• FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: Gold Medal (2006)
• 2008 Olympics Basketball Tournament: Silver Medal
• EuroBasket 2009: Gold Medal
• EuroBasket 2011: Gold Medal

Personal awards[link]

• MVP of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship: he averaged 22.3 points, 12.8 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 6.5 steals. In the final, accumulated 51 points, 24 rebounds, 12 assists and 7 steals.^[36]
• 2× led the Spanish ACB League in steals: (2007, 2009)
• Won the Spanish ACB League Rising Star Award: (2007)
• 3× FIBA European Young Player of the Year: (2007, 2008, 2009)
• 2× Spanish ACB League's Best Point Guard: (2008, 2010)
• 2× All-Spanish ACB League Team: (2008, 2010)
• Italian Superbasket Magazine's European Player of the Year: Mr. Europa: (2008)
• Spanish ACB League Defensive Player of the Year: (2009)
• Catalan Cup Tournament MVP: (2009)
• Euroleague Rising Star: (2010)
• Won the Spanish ACB League Top 5 Trophy: Most Spectacular Player of the Year (2010)

European professional club career statistics[link]

Note that 2pt field goal percentage and 3pt field goal percentage need to be averaged together to get the overall field goal percentage, as ULEB and Liga ACB do not list the overall field goal % in the stats like the NBA does. ACB stats include both regular season and playoff games.^[37][38]