Gay advised 3 Rockets after Achilles injuries
Since recovering from a torn Achilles tendon in 2017, Rudy Gay has been the NBA’S unofficial counselor for players who have suffered the devastating injury and face its grueling post-surgery rehab.
“I just want people to do well and have control of their careers,” the Spurs forward said.
On Thursday, Gay reflected on how he helped three players on the Rockets roster who have recovered from a blown Achilles: John Wall, Demarcus Cousins and David Nwaba.
“The injury has been an injury where people have kind of written you off and told you that you can’t come back or it’s careerending,” said Gay, who is in his 15th season.
“But if I can do it, they can do it,” he said.
Nwaba was with Brooklyn when he ruptured his Achilles in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Spurs in December 2019 at the AT&T Center.
“I actually called him because it happened here in San Antonio, and I saw it,” Gay said. “I reached out to Garrett Temple, who was his teammate at the time, and asked him if (Nwaba) was OK. I wrote his number down and (later) told him what I went through and how I did it.”
Wall was with Washington when he ruptured an Achilles tendon in a freak accident at his home in February 2019. Cousins was with New Orleans when he injured his Achilles in a game against Houston in January 2018.
“Cuz is a little different,” Gay said. “We were teammates (with Sacramento) and are a lot closer than I am with David. I just told him to be patient, that there are going to be some tough days.”
Gay also has offered words of encouragement to several other players who have blown out Achilles tendons, including Brooklyn superstar Kevin Durant.
“The overall thing is to get healthy and do as much as you can with your career,” said Gay, who tore his Achilles during his last season with the Kings.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich called Gay, 34, one of the league’s “great teammates,” someone who is “always willing to help out” others.
“He gets along with everybody,” Popovich said. “He’s got a good sense of humor. He’s got a good way about him. He’s easy to talk to, get along with. So he makes himself available in lots of situations. The Achilles situation ... is just another example.”
Veteran on board with tighter protocols
Gay applauded the NBA’S decision to add new health and safety protocols designed to slow the rapid increase of COVID-19 cases around the league.
The NBA announced Tuesday that it is asking players and staff members to stay at their residences when they are at home and in their hotels when on the road for at least the next two weeks.
Players must also limit their pre- and post-game interactions to elbow and fist bumps. The new rules also include a limit on the length of team meetings and a prohibition against players arriving at the arena more than three hours before tip-off.
“I guess you can complain about it, but at the end of the day, it’s about safety,” Gay said. “That’s the most important part, not just for us, but for our families, staff, everybody.”
Gay painted compliance to the tighter measures in patriotic terms.
“We travel from state to state through the United States of America,” he said. “We got to go out there and do our part.”
Three members of the Spurs are in the midst of going through COVID protocols. Assistant coach Becky Hammon, forward/center Drew Eubanks and another staff member are quarantined in Los Angeles, where the Spurs played last week.
The quarantine process can take up to 14 days and is for individuals who test positive for the virus or who are going through contact tracing after being in close contact with someone who tested positive.
Spurs employ robots to fight virus’ spread
The Spurs announced Thursday that they have added some formidable members to their team.
In fact, the “powerful new teammates” already have been zipping around the AT&T Center, but fans likely will never see the waist-high players in action. That’s because the so-called “teammates” are Lightstrike robots bought by Spurs Sports & Entertainment to fight COVID-19.
The machines, manufactured by San Antonio-based Xenex Disinfection Services, use UV light technology that kills bacteria and viruses, including COVID-19.
In preparation for the day when they will re-open the AT&T Center to fans, the Spurs are the first NBA team to use robots to disinfect rooms and areas within their arena.
“The organization is going to do everything it can to make sure the environment is safe before it brings anybody back,” Popovich said. “We don’t have fans now because it’s such a difficult time. It’s very difficult to make everything safe as one would like. When the science is such that the organization feels it can provide a safe environment, it will be done.”