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Rudy Gay will have an opportunity to compete in his 18th NBA season after signing a one-year deal with the Golden State Warriors. The contract will now see the NBA vet look to secure the last spot on the team's roster in training camp. There, he will have to compete for a spot heading into the 2023-24 season after recently competing for the Utah Jazz last year.
The news was broken by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, who received confirmation from Sam Permut of Roc Nation Sports. An 18th season played would put Haslem just one season shy of making the NBA's all-time season leaders list, which has eleven players such as Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal all tied.
Of course, there's no guarantee that Rudy Gay will make the final roster and compete during the actual season. The team could wind up cutting him and selecting another player for the final spot on their roster. Once the news was made public, fans began to chime in with jokes regarding the situation.
Check out some of the funniest reactions below:
Looking at Rudy Gay's stats from last season heading into his 18th season
While Rudy Gay may have the chance to compete for the final Golden State Warriors roster spot, many have questioned whether his play warrants it. While he has been able to consistently come off the bench in recent years, his scoring averages, as well as his efficiency have dropped.
During the 2020-21 season with the San Antonio Spurs, his last with the team, Gay played in 63 games, coming off the bench in all but one. Despite that, he managed to shoot 42.0% from the field, and 38.1% from beyond the arc while averaging 11.4 points per game.
The following year, however, his first with the Utah Jazz, Gay played in 55 games and averaged 18.9 mpg, similar to the previous season. Despite that, his field goal percentage dropped from 42.0% to 41.4%, while his three-point percentage dropped from 38.1% to 34.5%.
In addition, Gay's scoring numbers dropped, with his average being 8.1 ppg, the first time he had ever scored below 10.0 ppg in his career.
Last season, things took another sharp decline for Rudy Gay. Despite playing in 56 games and averaging 14.6 minutes, his shooting dropped to 38.0%, the lowest of his career, with his 25.4% three-point average marking another career low as well.
Similarly, his scoring average dropped to 5.2 ppg, leading many fans to wonder whether the 14.6 minutes he averaged would be better used on another player.
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