BallinEurope’s man in Italy, Enrico Cellini, passed along this delicious clip uploading to YouTube just today. As Ricky Rubio nonchalantly exits the bus and into the facilities in advance of the Rising Stars Challenge making up part of this weekend’s NBA All-Star festivities, observers may notice the, um, quite stylish backpack slung over one shoulder. Pink and purple in color, the baggage is lovingly decked with the smiling countenance of that easy joke target symbol of what’s wrong with the mass-media music industry proof that there’s no accounting for taste teen heartthrob Justin Bieber.
So what’s the deal here? Surely La Pistola hasn’t become this influenced by the cheesier side of American pop culture this rapidly. Enrico suspects – probably quite correctly – that this, let’s face it, potentially viral-going humiliation was some sort of hazing ritual. And Blake Griffin’s barely held-back smirk makes this embarrassing 37 seconds even more watchable.
Who knows? Maybe this is merely an indication that Rubio is in fact a “Down to Earth” kinda guy … As for the ‘Challenge, BiE wishes Ricky “good luck” and is sure that everything will “Be Alright” (sic).