The three-time EuroLeague champion has now appeared in six consecutive Olympic tournaments, which has never been done before.
Rudy Fernandez re-wrote Olympic history books
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When Rudy Fernandez entered the game with 5:18 left on the clock in the first quarter of the opening game of the 2024 Olympic tournament, he made Olympic history. His Spain might have been down 18-7 at that point, but Fernandez officially became the first-ever basketball player to compete in six Olympic Games.
Spanish forward, the three-time Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (2015, 2018, 2023) and one-time BKT EuroCup (2008) champion has made his Olympic debut in 2004 in Athens as a 19-year old. During his illustrious career has won Olympic silver medals in 2008 in Beijing and in 2012 in London, and has won a bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Now, 20 years later, he has re-written Olympic record books at the age of 39 and at what he hinted will be the final basketball tournament of his career. Fernandez might have finished scoreless during his 17 minutes in the floor, while picking up a steal and a rebound, but in what ended up a 12-point loss, he had a 0 in +/- column.
Meanwhile, his long-time Real Madrid teammate, a fellow three-time EuroLeague champ and a former EuroLeague MVP Sergio Llull appeared in his fourth Olympics.
Llull's back-to-back triples in the second quarter cut Spain's deficit to 31-27, and his run of eight points early in the fourth helped cut the margin to 75-71. But Spain never came closer than that the rest of the way.
Llull finished with 17 points as his team's second-best scorer in 24 minutes on the floor.
Next for Spain is a clash against Greece on Tuesday.
(Top photo: FIBA)