Rudy Gay

BIOGRAPHY

Rudy Gay was born on August, 8, 1986, in Brooklyn, New York. He is a small forward in NBA.

Gay began playing competitive recreational basketball at the age of 12 in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. At the age of 14, Gay began playing for the nationally known Cecil-Kirk AAU program under coach Anthony Lewis.

Gay played his first two years of high school basketball at Baltimore County's Eastern Technical High School, a magnet school in Essex. He played varsity basketball both years. In his sophomore season at Eastern Tech, the Mavericks earned their first and only trip to College Park for the state semi-finals. Although Eastern Tech was a Blue Ribbon academic institution, Gay's parents were concerned about his college preparation. He began his junior year with Eastern Tech, but in September 2002, he transferred to Archbishop Spalding in Severn. This prompted the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association to review its transfer rules. He began playing basketball for Spalding as a junior in 2002–03, earning first team All-Baltimore Catholic League honors as a junior and senior, and was also honored as the Baltimore Sun's co-player of the year as a senior. He was the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, and a Parade first-team All-American in his senior year after averaging 21.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Gay was listed as the No. 2 small forward and the No. 5 player in the nation in 2004.

In 2010, Gay was named an ambassador for the Hoops for St. Jude fundraising program for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and donated $20,000 to the program, which allowed donors to pledge a set amount of dollars for each point scored by Gay and other participating NBA players.

In April 2010, Gay was awarded the NBA Cares Community Assist Award for March in recognition of his service to the Memphis community, particularly his ongoing support of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. As a result, a $5,000 donation was given by the NBA on behalf of Gay to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Gay, who wore number 22 with Memphis, personally donated $22,222.22 to the hospital.

On July 8th, 2010, Gary e-signed with the Memphis Grizzlies to a five-year, $82 million contract. In the 2011-12 season, He posted 2.3 assists and .455 shooting in 65 games (all starts) and ranked 17th in the NBA in scoring, 16th in steals (1.46), sixth in minutes and seventh in dunks (110). He made his first postseason appearance in 2011–12, averaged a team-high 19.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists on .421 shooting in 39.9 minutes in seven games against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2012 Western Conference Playoffs.

On January 30th, 2013, Gay was traded to the Toronto Raptors in a three-team deal. Gay set a record by scoring 74 points in his first three games with the Raptors. He became the first player to lead two teams in scoring in the same season since Stephon Marbury in 2003–04. He averaged 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.73 steals and 34.7 minutes in 33 games (32 starts) with Toronto.

In the 2013-14 season, Gay was traded to the Sacramento Kings. In January 2014, he tied his career-high of 41 points in the Kings 114-97 win over the Pelicans. On June 22nd, 2014, Gay exercised his $19.3 million contract option with the Kings for the 2014–15 season.  On November 19th, 2014, he signed a three-year, $40 million contract extension with the Kings. Gay averaged 21.1 points 5.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 68 games. 

On July 6th, 2017, Gay signed with the San Antonio Spurs and re-signed in 2018. 

On August 6, 2021, Gay signed with the Utah Jazz.