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'Okay, I'm going to go back in the locker room, and they are gonna do something and I will come back out.'"
Doctors called it a left shoulder subluxation. It became a season- long question: When will Rudy be back? That question eventually brought the answer the Grizzlies didn't want. Gay wouldn't be com- ing back, the notoriously fickle multiaxial shoulder joint forcing him to sit out the rest of the season.
Memphis had won 12 of their last 15 before Gay went down, and were 23-12 since plodding through the opening six weeks of the season. With Gay watching in a sling, an upset of the top-seeded Spurs in the first round of the playoffs convinced the public the Grizzlies didn't need him, and that Memphis was better off trading their best young player. Zach Randolph compares Gay to LeBron James, and yet there were calls to give up the recently turned 25-year-old.
The night of Game 7 in Oklahoma City proved how much they need him. Memphis squandered away a chance to advance because they couldn't make or find shots, scoring 34 first-half points and shooting under 40 percent for the game.
"That's what we were missing in the playoffs, a guy like Rudy," says Mike Conley, the Grizzlies' point guard. "We needed a guy that could create his own shot and shoot over top of people the way he can and make plays the way he can."
Even now, he can only participate in non-contact drills because of his shoulder. The Grizzlies held team workouts at the University of Memphis last month, but Gay is only a spectator during full- court runs.
Once, a cornerstone. Now, a slight unknown. Gay's talent is unde- niable, but how will his return affect the team? Gay says his role changes every year. Before he was hurt, he made the plays in close games. No one knows what will happen now. Even the Thunder's
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Russell Westbrook says he's not sure what'll happen.
With Rudy watching from the sidelines, it was Randolph who be- came the story of the playoffs, and Memphis' inside game the focus. Some might not expect a seamless transition back to what it was. But Z-Bo does.
"I don't look at it like he's the number one guy or Rudy's gonna be the number two guy or Marc [Gasol] is gonna be the three guy, or I'll be the two guy or Rudy will be the two guy," says Randolph. "We are gonna play team ball."
His 6-8 teammate echoes that.
"I don't think it's about me fitting in at all," says Gay. "Everybody on the team knows me, and they know what type of player I am. They know how I can help the team."
It wasn't too long ago Gay was just another decent player on a bad team. Some didn't think he could coexist with O.J. Mayo. The two of them took a lot of shots on a team that was going nowhere. But winning thrusts you into the spotlight, and Gay is poised to take the next step.
"I think Rudy knows he's good now, but I also don't think he knows how good he can be," says Marcus Williams, his former college teammate at UConn. "Sometimes he may get content with how he is, but his talent is through the roof."
Young players always appear to progress, but often they just get more opportunities, more minutes and more shots. Gay actually has improved. He shot 40 percent from beyond the arc last year, and over 80 percent from the line. His 47 percent shooting was a career high. He's always trying to get better, saying, "I don't think Bill Gates sits around and just counts his money. He's looking at his next move." Late in games, Gay's a killer. Just ask LeBron. In a November win, Gay hit a pull-up jumper in the Miami star's face at the buzzer.