Rudy Gay is a forward for the San Antonio Spurs. Gay went on from two succesful years at the University of Connecticut to become a well-established NBA veteran. He uses his combination of size, athleticism, and skill to provide effective offense for his team.
Now in his fourteenth season, he has averaged double-figure scoring in every season of his career. Despite a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in 2017, Gay has bounced back to again be an effective all-around player for the Spurs.
Gay played his first two yeard of high school basketball at Eastern Technical High School in Essex, Maryland. He helped the school reach the first state semifinal of its history.
After two years, Gay transferred to Archbishop Spalding. As a senior, he averaged 21.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game. He was considered a 5-star recruit and the fifth best overall player in the nation.
Gay played for two years for Coach Calhoun and the UConn Huskies. As a Baltimore native, many expected him to go to the University of Maryland, and there were suspicions of recruiting violations although no allegations were proven.
As a freshman, Gay shared Big East Rookie of the Year honors with Jeff Green of Georgetown. He averaged 11.8 points per game. In his sophomore season, he was the team’s leading scorer with 15.2 points per game, and was a coaches’ selection as a First Team All-American. His college career high was 28 points, and he led UConn to a 30-3 record and an Elite Eight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
After this season, he declared for the 2006 NBA Draft.
Gay was drafted with the eighth overall pick by the Houston Rockets, who traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies. With 43 starts and 10.8 points per game, he was selected to the All-Rookie First Team and was third in Rookie of the Year voting. In his second season, Gay set the Memphis Grizzlies franchise records for points in a single season with 1,632 points. He also participated in the Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star Weekend, and was second in voting for the Most Improved Player award.
In the remaining four and a half seasons with the Grizzlies, Gay missed some games with injury but started every game he appeared in except for two. He averaged over 18 points per game in every season. During the 2011-2012 season, he also became the franchise’s all-time leader in steals.
In the 2012-2013 season, Gay was traded to the Toronto Raptors. He scored 74th points in his first three games with Toronto, a franchise record for a new arrival. He averaged 19.5 points per game in his time in Toronto. In December 2013, Toronto traded Gay to the Sacramento Kings.
In his first two season at Sacramento, Gay averaged over 20 points per game. On January 18, 2017, Gay suffered a full rupture of his Achilles tendon that kept him out for the remainder of the season and left observers uncertain of when and how effectively he would be able to come back.
The San Antonio Spurs signed Gay during the 2017 offseason, as he was working his way back to full fitness. Early in the season, he suffered a right heel injury that led to more missed games, and he was kept primarily to a bench role where he averaged 11.3 points per game. In the 2018-2019 season, Gay started in 51 of his 69 appearances and averaged 13.7 points per game and a career-best 40.2% from three. Prior to the league suspension caused by coronavirus, Gay had started 5 out of 60 games for the Spurs and was averaging 10 points per game.
Gay has earned $137M over the course of his career and is in the first year of a two-year, $28M deal with the San Antonio Spurs.
Rudy Gay has an endorsement deal with footwear company Puma and previously had one with Zappos.
Rudy Gay signed a 2 year, $24 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs in 2019.
Rudy Gay was born to Rudy Gaye, Sr. and Rae Gay in Brooklyn. The family later moved to Baltimore, Maryland. He married his longtime girlfriend Ecko Wray in 2013.
During his time in Memphis, Gay was an ambassador for Hoops for St. Jude, an initiative to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
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