Minneapolis/St. Paul - The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced that an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) taken this morning revealed that Wolves guard Ricky Rubio has a torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) in his left knee. Rubio, who will have surgery scheduled at a to-be-determined date, will miss the remainder of the 2011-12 NBA season. The injury occurred with 16.4 seconds remaining in last night's game vs. the L.A. Lakers.

"Obviously, Ricky's injury is an unfortunate turn of events for him and our team," said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. "I feel bad for Ricky having to miss the rest of this season. But Ricky is a competitor, and I am confident that he will work hard to get back on the court next year and continue his progression as one of the top point guards in our league. We have 25 games left this season, and I look for our team to continue to play hard and fight for a playoff spot.

In 41 games, 31 starts, Rubio averaged 10.6 points, 8.2 assists (5th in the NBA), 4.2 rebounds and 2.22 steals (3rd in the NBA) in 34.2 minutes per game. Rubio led all NBA rookies in assists, minutes and steals while recording 12 point-assist double-doubles, ranking him third in the NBA. Rubio was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for January.

Contact information:

Mike Cristaldi, Minnesota Timberwolves, (612) 673-8405, cristaldi@timberwolves.com

Aaron Seehusen, Minnesota Timberwolves, (612) 673-1602, seehusen@timberwolves.com

Dan Bell, Minnesota Timberwolves, (612) 673-1603, bell@timberwolves.com

www.timberwolves.com

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