Ex-Raptors forward retires after 17 NBA seasons

Oct 29 2024, 3:40 pm

A name that just about every Toronto Raptors fan of a certain age will remember is officially calling it a career.

Today, ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news that Rudy Gay is calling it quits after 17 seasons in the NBA, which included a quick stop north of the border in 2013.

In a three-team deal that also involved the Detroit Pistons, Toronto acquired Gay from the Memphis Grizzlies with high hopes that he would become a franchise cornerstone.

Gay averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 51 games for the Raptors throughout two seasons. But less than a year after being acquired, Toronto traded Gay, along with Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray, to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Greivis Vásquez, John Salmons, Chuck Hayes and Patrick Patterson.

Given that Toronto eventually got Norman Powell and the rights to the pick that later became OG Anunoby (who was later traded for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley), the remnants of the Gay trade tree are still ongoing.

But some 11 years after the initial trade to Toronto, it appears that Gay and the organization didn’t exactly get off on the best foot.

On a recent podcast appearance on 7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & Kid Mero, Gay was pretty candid about his feelings on being traded away from the Grizzlies to Toronto in 2013.

“It ain’t my fault y’all traded me, man. I ain’t have no control over that,” he said of Memphis. “If I did, I damn sure wouldn’t go to Toronto. You know what I’m saying? You think I wanted to go to Toronto?… If I wanted to get traded, why the f*** would I go to Toronto?”

Gay also played for the Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz, and San Antonio Spurs. He last played in the NBA in 2022-23, and the 38-year-old has been unable to secure a contract over the last two offseasons.

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