“Everything happened so suddenly,” the 44-year-old former Euroleague basketball player died suddenly

The winner of the European Cup and the most valuable player of the final of this tournament, Ruben Douglas, died in Costa Rica.

“He was a jokester. Of course, he played seriously on the court, but he liked to have fun. Everyone knew him as a funny guy. And he was also a talented player. He worked so hard to get high,” Ramon Douglas said.

The basketball player’s brother told “The Journal” that Ruben Douglas lived in Costa Rica and Arizona (USA) in recent years. He had recently returned to Costa Rica, and there he fell ill and died of an unknown infection, his relatives don’t even know what.

“It all happened so suddenly,” Ramon Douglas said, adding that his brother had been in good health, so his death came as a surprise to the family.

Born in California, Douglas rose to prominence in the NCAA, where he started at the University of Arizona, but came into his own with the New Mexico Lobos in 2002-03, when he scored 28 points and became the NCAA’s leading scorer.

The 196 cm tall Panamanian didn’t make it to the NBA, but had a solid career in Europe – he played for Panionios of Athens, Climamio of Bologna, Dinamo of Moscow, Valencia, Lottomatica of Rome, and Cajasol of Seville before retiring in 2012 in the Turkish second league.

In 2006, he won the European Cup with Dynamo Moscow and was recognized as the most valuable player in the final with Aris Thessaloniki.

R. Douglas represented the Panama national team and played with it in the 2006 World Championship.

With “Climamio” he became the Italian champion, helping to defeat the Milan “Olimpia” club in the final in 2005. That season, he scored 13.5 points for the Bologna team in Euroleague matches.

“The phone call froze our blood. No, Ruben, no,” the Bologna club shared the sad news on its website, noting that the basketball player died due to unexpected health problems.

The Italians added that it was planned that R. Douglas, who helped win the league gold in 2005, would visit Bologna this year and be honored once again for his championship merits.

The message of condolence was also shared by the Valencia club, which the 196 cm tall basketball player represented in the two-and-a-half season 2006-2009.

Also the social pages of the European Cup tournament.

R. Douglas had two children.