Rudy Gay Retires from NBA After 17 Seasons with Grizzlies, Spurs, Kings and More
October 29, 2024
Rudy Gay's NBA career has come to an end after 17 seasons and stints with five different teams.
The 38-year-old announced his retirement in an article for The Players' Tribune, writing he feels like the "luckiest man in the world" for all that he was able to do on the court and getting to share the rest of his life with his family.
Rudy Gay @RudyGayI'm 38 years old.<br><br>I've had an 18 year career in the NBA.<br><br>It's time to hang it up. Thank you for everything — it's all love. <a href="https://twitter.com/PlayersTribune?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PlayersTribune</a> <a href="https://t.co/GOEjp3rolL">https://t.co/GOEjp3rolL</a>
The last appearance for Gay in an NBA game was for the Utah Jazz on March 22, 2023.
Gay first put himself on the national radar during his two seasons at Connecticut from 2004 to '06. He was named Big East Rookie of the Year as a freshman and earned a first-team All-American honors during his sophomore campaign.
UConn's title hopes in the 2005-06 season were dashed during George Mason's Cinderella run in the NCAA tournament. Gay did everything in his power to get the Huskies into the Final Four with 20 points and six rebounds in 42 minutes, but Connecticut fell 86-84 in overtime.
Gay declared for the 2006 NBA draft and was selected No. 8 overall by the Houston Rockets, who traded his rights to the Memphis Grizzlies. He spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Grizzlies.
The 2010-11 season saw the Grizzlies win their first playoff series in franchise history, defeating the 61-win San Antonio Spurs in six games.
Memphis traded Gay to the Toronto Raptors midway through the 2012-13 season. He was traded again early in the 2013-14 season to the Sacramento Kings, who he would play with for the next four years.
Gay missed most of the 2016-17 season and start of the 2017-18 season due to a torn Achilles. He had a four-year run with the Spurs from 2017-18 to 2020-21, then closed out his career with the Jazz for two seasons.
The Golden State Warriors signed Gay to a one-year deal in September 2023. He averaged 2.0 points per game on 33.3 percent three-point shooting in two appearances before being waived as part of their final preseason roster cuts.
Gay appeared in 1,139 games between the regular season and playoffs in his career. He averaged 15.8 points on 45.2 percent shooting, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.
