![rudy gay injury update 2018 rudy gay injury update 2018](https://news4sanantonio.com/resources/media/e29f13a3-0837-4418-9a72-9cc9812b4af2-large16x9_AP18364167220594.jpg)
This is all during a six-month period.”īy the time Spurs training camp rolled around, Gay was on the practice floor. You go from not being able to be on (the foot) at all, to crutches and a boot. “I don’t think people understand the stages you have to go through,” Gay said. Gay still cringes when thinking about it. It was up to him to to make the Spurs’ gamble hit. Gay’s signing was a low-risk roll of the dice. I realized he was talented, so that with proper care maybe he could show us what he is showing us now.” “I really didn’t know what level he could get to,” coach Gregg Popovich said. The team was not certain he would be ready for the start of training camp in late September. The Spurs weren’t sure they would ever see this version of Gay when they signed him to a mid-level deal starting at $8.4 million in July 2017.Īt that point, he had not played competitive basketball in six months. “He is going out there and doing a little bit of everything, which is awesome for us as a team.” “He’s playing at a high level, and it goes with him being here for a little bit,” guard Patty Mills said. His ability to switch and guard players both big and small has helped fuel a defensive surge in which the Spurs have held opposing offenses to fewer than 100 points in a league-high five consecutive contests. He is shooting 45.8 percent from 3-point range - 10 percent better than his career mark.Īt 6-foot-8, Gay has also become the Spurs’ most important defensive player. Heading into Wednesday’s game at Orlando, Gay is averaging 14.3 points and 6.8 rebounds. That job belongs to All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge. Unlike previous stops in Memphis and Sacramento, Gay isn’t counted on to be the Spurs’ top scorer. In his second season with the Spurs, Gay has emerged as perhaps the team’s most important role player. Gay has since left the La-Z-Boy far behind. You can’t walk, so you sit around and end up being a bum. “I think I gained five pounds in the week before surgery. He spent the final three months of his final season in Sacramento on the bench in street clothes, fighting despair and doing “whatever makes you feel better.” He was not as certain he would ever be Rudy Gay again. As he began a long and arduous rehab process after surgery, Gay was confident he would appear in the NBA again. Gay was 30 years old the day his body betrayed him in January 2017, a prime-time NBA scorer already headed toward the twilight of his career. Brandon Jennings and Anderson Varejao had their careers cut short because of the injury.Įven Kobe Bryant wasn’t quite as great after fighting back from a torn Achilles tendon. Wesley Matthews is a shell of his former self in Dallas. The track record of players overcoming an Achilles injury is not encouraging.Įlton Brand was never the same.
Rudy gay injury update 2018 professional#
Two years ago, Gay found his professional career on life support after ripping apart his left Achilles tendon while playing for Sacramento. “Playing like I used to play and doing things I used to do.”
![rudy gay injury update 2018 rudy gay injury update 2018](https://www.nba.com/kings/sites/kings/files/rudy_11.jpg)
![rudy gay injury update 2018 rudy gay injury update 2018](https://www.nba.com/jazz/sites/jazz/files/11.9.21-rudy-gay-update.gif)
“Basically, I’m just now feeling like I’m getting my career back,” Gay said. He leads the Spurs in dunks with 13.Īfter each, Gay is sure to utter a silent debt of gratitude to himself. Such a scene is not uncommon when it comes to Gay this season.