The J-Notes
Fansided

Utah Jazz rank: The top 10 international players in team history

By Ryan Aston

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 5: the Utah Jazz looks on during the game against the Orlando Magicon March 5, 2018 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 5: the Utah Jazz looks on during the game against the Orlando Magicon March 5, 2018 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Ricky Rubio Utah Jazz
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – JANUARY 03: Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz brings the ball up court during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Vivint Smart Home Arena on January 3, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) /

5) Ricky Rubio, PG — Spain

The “Spanish Samurai” may be just one year into his Jazz career, but it was one helluva year. It didn’t start out that way, though.

Before we had even reached the mid-way point of the 2017-18 season, there was a vocal contingent of Jazz fans calling for Ricky Rubio‘s head. His shooting was as bad as advertised, his defense had been a letdown and the Jazz simply couldn’t score when he, Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors shared the floor.

It was bad times.

Fast-forward to now and Rubio officially has both a breakout year (having logged career highs in points per game, field goal percentage and 3-point percentage) and a playoff series victory under his belt. In many ways, he’s become the heart and soul of the current Jazz squad and a true fan favorite.

When the Jazz lost his services for Round 2 versus the Houston Rockets, it was a gut punch the team couldn’t recover from.

Jazz stats: 77 GP (77 starts), 13.1 PPG, 5.3 APG, 4.6 RPG, .418 FG%, .352 3P%

Next: No. 4