Monday, May 26, 2008

Rudy Fernandez Knows What to Say

Being a public figure comes with a lot of responsibilities. In the case of an NBA player, this includes being a proper role model. This means being a positive representative of their city or team, making public appearances, talking with the media and tons of other tasks that the average person probably never thinks about.

There are times in a player's career when they have to be careful about what they say when it comes to discussing controversial subjects such as trades, free agency and the desire to play for another team.

According to many analysts, Rudy Fernandez is one of the best basketball players not in the NBA. He just finished his season playing for a Spanish team, DKV Joventut. He was drafted by the Phoenix Suns last season and then he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.

However, he was under contract by his Spanish team and the way the NBA rules are setup, if he wanted to come play in the NBA he would have had to buyout his contract himself. Despite having a billionaire owner, the Trail Blazers could not buyout his contract. Considering his star status in Spain, his contract last year was worth more than his NBA rookie contract. In other words, he would have gone bankrupt if he wanted to play in the NBA last year.

Fernandez is a star in Spain and obviously the fans there know that he is likely gone for the NBA. However, in a recent interview in Spain Rudy is quoted saying, "It may have been my last game with Joventut... but maybe not."

Fernandez has yet to sign with the Trail Blazers, but he knows that he cannot alienate his fans in Spain by essentially saying goodbye days after they lost in the playoffs. Especially because there is speculation that he will most likely get a big contract with Nike or adidas and be featured in a huge marketing campaign in Spain. Whether it was the Trail Blazers, DKV Joventut or Fernandez's own PR knowledge, he knew what that he had to be politically correct and remain a fan favorite in Spain for the better of his career.

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