Today is Rudy Gay‘s birthday, as the Toronto Raptors star small forward turns 27 years old. Gay has had a pretty solid NBA career so far as he enters his eighth season. He’s turned out pretty well for his career to this point, averaging 18 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
He was just recently traded midway last season from the Memphis Grizzlies to Toronto, and looks to have a bright future with a young squad with loads of potential.
We all know Gay can bring it on the floor, but he can also bring the heat on his feet as well. We ranked Gay as the sixth biggest NBA sneakerhead on Instagram, and he really makes a great case for it. In honor of Gay’s tremendous shoe game, we rank his 15 best sneaker moments on Instagram.
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15. Bred 11s
The craze for the Air Jordan 11 Retro “Bred” last December was a massive one. When December comes rolling, everyone knows an important colorway from the XI model of Air Jordans is going to be released. Gay brings a good amount of swag in this photo, but considering the 19586868 times the Bred 11s have been restocked, I’m sure his dog and grandma probably have a pair.
14. Bred 4s
Yes another sneaker that has been restocked quite a few amount of times in the past year, but despite that the Air Jordan 4 retro “Bred” is still an amazing colorway and a classic sneaker to rock. Gay rocks it very well in this photo, and in fact took this photo about a month before the shoe officially released. Way to stay early on things, Rudy.
13. Retro 8s
You can’t go wrong with a pair of 8s. Gay gets the Ying Yang going with the Air Jordan 8 retro colorways of the “Bugs Bunny” and the “Playoffs”. This photo, much like the Bred 4s one, was taken before the shoes released. In fact, the Bugs Bunnies didn’t release until a week or two after, while the Playoffs released three months later.
12. Jordan Party
While everyone was busting out the Cool Grey 14s, Gay looked to spice things up a bit with the classic “Black Cement” colorway of the Air Jordan 3. The photo lacks creativity, since all I see is the same shoe except Gay’s. However, a great move by him to stay different from the pack.
11. Black Cement 3s
And speaking of Black Cement 3s, Gay had a separate photo for that occasion as well. In the photo above, he reveals that he finally got a pair, thanks to a good friend. The Black Cement 3s are probably one of the most iconic colorways in the history of the Air Jordan 3 model, let alone the brand itself. Good choice here.
10. Cherries
In the photo above, Gay rocks a very underrated colorway in the Air Jordan 12 “Cherry”. This is a great pick for a photo that not many people talk about these days. Another solid choice from the Raptors forward.
9. Back To Work
In a photo taken from before the 2012-13 NBA season began, Gay reveals some of the heat he had on as he got back on his basketball grind. Gay didn’t start getting into rocking his Jordans on the court a lot until he hit Toronto, which is why you see a pair of Hyperposites in this picture. You can never go wrong with a pair, but Gay was always seen in them during his time in Memphis. The Hyperposites go well in this photo nonetheless, complementing the Air Jordan 12 “Playoffs.”
8. The Spikes
Rudy Gay stays a fashionable man, and he can’t be seen wearing Air Jordans and Nikes all day. Gay goes a little off that boat and brings out the Louis Vuitton spiked shoes in this photo. Solid choice.
7. No. 1
Gay already had a recent Jordan party earlier, but this one excels it easily. You see a great variety of Air Jordan 1s in this photo, from the Royal Blues to the Black Toes and even the Bred and Celtics colorways. Good stuff in this photo.
6. Shoe Game
“Shoe game” was the plain, simple caption for this photo, and it’s 100 percent accurate. Here, Gay rocks one of the most coveted colorways of the Air Jordan 3s and in all of Jordan Brand with the White Cement 3s. Just an amazing sneaker.
5. A Small Sample of the Closet
Gay reveals a very minuscule part of his sneaker closet in this photo. You can see a variety of Air Jordan 11 colorways such as the Concords, Breds and Cool Greys. What can also be seen are some more rarer colorways, such as the Air Jordan 7 “Hare” and the Flu Game 12s. Good stuff from just a very small sample size of a massive sneaker collection.
4. Stealth
Gay reveals a colorway not many sneakerheads are aware of. The Air Jordan 5 “Stealth” is one of the most extremely underrated colorways of Jordan Brand, and Gay shows a super fresh, very near deadstock version of it. Props right here.
3. Oregon
We have seen a numerous amount of rare Oregon samples of various sneaker models from Nike, such as the Air Jordan 4 and Air Jordan 3. Nike has also brought it to other sneakers, such as the Jet Turfs seen above. Gay is one of the select few, most likely, to own this pair in the Oregon edition. What a possession to obtain.
2. Banned
This is easily one of the best sneakers we’ve seen ever from Gay. Above is the Air Jordan 1 “Banned” colorway. I mean, you gotta love the Xs on the back and just the history behind this sneaker, as Michael Jordan himself had his very first sneaker banned from the NBA. A highly-coveted sneaker owned by Gay, to no one’s surprise. The cap fits well in this, as well.
1. Sneakers Everywhere
The funny thing about this photo is that it’s still just a small sample size of Gay’s collection. Oh boy, look at all those sneakers and sneakerboxes just laying everywhere. It’s unimaginable of what Gay possibly has set for his birthday now. But props to Rudy for just an amazing collection and letting us all witness on Instagram.
What do you think?
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