VALENCIA (Spain) - Athens, Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Rudy Fernandez has played at the Olympics in all of those cities, dating back to 2004.
Is he about to do what no basketball player has done before and play at a sixth Olympics, in France? He's got a chance.
Fernandez, 39, is certainly causing a buzz in Spain. He's one of the main storylines for his national team before it hosts the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Valencia (July 2-7). All of his teammates, including center Willy Hernangomez, hope it happens.
Rudy is a legend - Willy Hernangomez
"He inspires all of us who come after him, and he will surely help us a lot with the national team," Hernangomez said. "He always gives everything, whether he is eighteen or almost forty years old."
Hernangomez has been a teammate of Fernandez's the past several years in the Spain setup and experienced firsthand what has made the 196m (6ft 5in) small forward/guard an icon. Early in his career, when Fernandez broke into the Spain team and played at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, he was perhaps best known for his high-flying dunks, and energy on defense.
Now in the twilight years of his career, his leadership and sacrifice are what stand out. Fernandez, one of Spain's signature players at EuroBasket 2022 in Berlin, showed what makes him special in one game when he dove out of bounds after the ball and landed on a track that was used for a TV camera.
His hustle was infectious, and was a reason why Spain were able to claim the fourth EuroBasket crown in their history. Fernandez played a key role in all of those title wins, and he also did in Spain's 2006 and 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup triumphs, and their silver medal winning finishes at the Olympics in 2008 and 2012, and in 2016 when they won bronze.
Fernandez, who won the Spanish Liga Endesa title on June 12 with Real Madrid, said upon his arrival to get ready for the OQT: "I'm coming to this preparation with a lot of confidence; I've experienced many beautiful moments with the national team and I hope I can end this professional cycle with an Olympic Games, which would be something incredible for me...
When I come here with the National Team, I enjoy it - Rudy
"Thank God, I've known many of the staff for a long time, although there are also a lot of new people. I'm very happy to prepare for a challenge that we are all very excited about, and I am the first."
Spain will play in Group A of the OQT Valencia against Angola and Lebanon. A top two finish would put them in the Semi-Finals. Finland, Poland and the Bahamas are in Group B, with the top two advancing as well.
All-conquering Spain came back down to earth last summer at the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Jakarta. Sergio Scariolo's team came up short of the Quarter-Finals, losing games to surprise package Latvia (74-69) and to Canada (88-85).
Falling to two teams lower in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike, was a disappointment, yet understandable. Latvia had a dream tournament and lost by just two to eventual World Cup winners Germany in the Quarter-Finals, and Canada ended up defeating the USA in the Third-Place Game.
Spain had gone into the World Cup as the holders, and with lofty expectations after winning EuroBasket 2022.
"It's true that many of us were at the EuroBasket, and the World Cup didn't go as well as we might have liked," Fernandez said, "but I think we competed against teams like Latvia, which came in fifth, and Canada, which came in third.
"We have to be aware that we have a team that can compete but also recognize that it's a team with little experience in these types of tournaments, and I'm the first, because it's my first time playing a Pre-Olympic."
Not having the success they had wanted at the World Cup isn't the driving force for Spain this summer, according to Alberto Diaz.
"The national team always wants to achieve the maximum, regardless of whether we come from a good tournament or a not-so-good one," said Diaz, who has taken over from Fernandez as Spain's best known defender. "The team is eager to be at the Olympic event and to pass this Pre-Olympic tournament."
And there is not, according to Diaz's good friend, Dario Brizuela, additional pressure on Spain as OQT hosts.
"It doesn't feel that way from the inside," he insisted. "We know that the Pre-Olympic tournament is a new thing, we are playing at home, we have to win everything to qualify. We know it's very important but we don't experience it with more pressure, rather with excitement. It's a new thing, a new experience for this new team, and we have to approach it with excitement. It will require us to be at our best from the beginning."
FIBA