The Utah Jazz point guard donated $20,000 to the charity 5 for the Fight at the Huntsman Cancer Institute on Friday afternoon. Layton Construction will match the gift to help fund cancer research.
The cause is a personal one for Rubio, who is in the midst of a $150,000 campaign for 5 for the Fight, a non-profit partner of the Jazz. Rubio’s mother, Tona Vives, died of lung cancer in 2016, and Rubio marked the check for lung cancer research to help treat other cases like his mother’s.
The 27-year-old Spaniard also took advantage of his day off by visiting patients and doctors at the Institute, giving away knit caps to people he met there.