Professional sports leagues are organized in numerous ways. The two most significant types are a European model, characterised by a tiered structure using promotion and relegation to determine participation in a hierarchy of leagues or divisions and a North American model characterized by its use of franchises and closed membership.

Etymology

The term league has many different meanings in different areas around the world, and its use for different concepts can make comparisons confusing. Usually a league is a group of teams that play each other during the season. It is also often used for the name of the governing body that oversees the league, as in Major League Baseball or England's Football League. Because most European soccer clubs participate in different competitions during a season, regular-season home-and-away games are often referred to as league games and the others as non-league games, even though the separate competitions may be organised by the same governing body. Also, there is a rugby football code called rugby league, as distinct from rugby union.

Structure of North American leagues

Professional sports leagues in North America are limited to a fixed number of teams, sometimes called "franchises." In this system, sometimes called a "franchise system" in the U.K., only a vote of the existing franchises can admit more teams. When this is done, a new place is put up to bid among would-be owners. With a few exceptions, no second team is allowed in an area where a team already exists.

This system of league organization was first developed in Major League Baseball with the formation of the National League in 1876, and was later adopted by the other North American sports leagues.

Although member teams are separate corporate entities from the league, they operate only under the auspices of the league. This doesn't necessarily mean American franchises can't play against teams outside their league. Exceptions include NHL teams playing against European hockey teams, as well as NBA teams playing against European basketball teams and Major League Soccer teams playing against other soccer teams in their region, during regional tournaments. The league, rather than any other sporting organization, determines the rules of the sport and sets the conditions under which players join and change teams. However, this is beginning to change with various American leagues, thanks to the global exposure that these leagues are facing with the rest of the world right now. For example, Major League Soccer used to follow its own gameplay rules prior to 2004, when they decided to embrace the standardized international rules that FIFA and the rest of the world were playing. Similarly, as of October 2010, NBA gameplay laws are now homogeneous/universal to international basketball laws of the game (as led by FIBA, international governing body / organization for that sport). Also, it makes it easier for people to watch different leagues of the same sport, since the rules are universal everywhere, as well as the fact it also makes it easier for players of the same sport to transfer between different leagues, be it domestically or internationally. This is not a necessity more than it is a formal understanding between the various leagues and sports bodies. Since North American professional teams are so closely tied to their leagues, and, in the case of the four major team sports, clearly represent the top level of play in the world, teams almost never play games outside of their league.

The teams are organised so that each major city has a team to support. Only the largest cities have more than one team. As such the teams are often referred to as franchises. Even though they are not technically franchises in a business sense, the league is organised in a way that assures teams continued existence in the league from year to year, which fosters an ongoing connection with the team's supporters. On occasion a league may decide to grow the sport by admitting a new expansion team into the league. Most of the teams in the four major North American pro sports leagues were created as part of a planned league expansion or through the merger of a rival league. Only the few oldest teams in the National Hockey League, for example, existed before becoming part of the NHL or its former rival, the World Hockey Association. The rest of the teams were created ex novo as expansion teams or as charter members of the WHA, which merged into the NHL in 1979.

Major League Soccer is technically not an association of franchises but a single business entity, though each team has an owner-operator. The team owners are actually shareholders in the league. The league, not the individual teams, contracts with the players.

The best teams in a given season reach a playoff tournament, and the winner of the playoffs is crowned champion of the league, and, in some cases as world champions. Major League Soccer teams, however, play many games against international competition, due to the global nature of the sport and the presence of regional (CONCACAF) and international (FIFA) organizations.

The North American system has some features of the European model in terms of a tiered structure. Major League Baseball has an associated minor-league system used to develop young talent. Although most minor league teams are independently owned, each one is contracted toa major-league team, which hires and pays the players and assigns them to a given level in its minor-league hierarchy. The teams themselves do not move up or down in the hierarchy. Professional ice hockey has a system somewhat similar to baseball's, while the National Basketball Association operate a small developmental league and the NFL used to operate one in Europe.

Structure of European leagues

English football (soccer) developed a very different system from the North American one, and it has been adopted for soccer in most other countries, as well as to many other sports founded in Europe and played across the world. The features of the system are:

The existence of an elected governing body to which clubs at all levels of the sport belong

The promotion of well-performing teams to higher-level leagues or divisions and the relegation of poorly performing teams to lower-level leagues or divisions.

Matches played both inside and outside of leagues

European football clubs are members both of a league and of a governing body. In the case of England, all competitive football clubs are members of The Football Association, while the top 20 teams also are members of the Premier League, a separate organization. The FA operates the national football team and tournaments that involve teams from different leagues. In conjunction with other countries' governing bodies, it also sets the playing rules and the rules under which teams can sell players' contracts to other clubs.

The rules or Laws of The Game are determined by the International Football Association Board

The Premier League negotiates television contracts for its games. However, although the national league would be the dominating competition in which a club might participate, there are many non-league fixtures a club might play in a given year. In European football there are national cup competitions, which are single elimination knock-out tournaments, are played every year and all the clubs in the league participate. Also, the best performing clubs from the previous year may participate in pan-European tournaments such as the UEFA Champions League, operated by the Union of European Football Associations. A Premier League team might play a league game one week, and an FA Cup game against a team from a lower-level league the next, and then a third game might be against a team from across Europe in the Champions League.

The promotion and relegation system is generally used to determine membership of leagues. Most commonly, a pre-determined number of teams that finish the bottom of a league or division are automatically dropped down, or relegated, to a lower level for the next season. They are replaced by teams who are promoted from that lower tier either by finishing with the best records or by winning a playoff. In England in 2010, Burnley, Hull City and Portsmouth were relegated from the Premier League to the Football League Championship, the second level of English soccer. They were replaced by the top two teams from the second level, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion, as well as Blackpool F.C., which won a playoff tournament of the teams that finished third through sixth.

The system originated in England in 1888 when twelve clubs decided to create a professional Football League. It then expanded by merging with the Football Alliance in 1892, with the majority of the Alliance teams occupying the lower Second Division, due to the divergent strengths of the teams. As this differential was overcome over the next five years, the winners of the Second Division went into a playoff with the worst placed team in the First Division, and if they won, were promoted into the top tier. The first club to achieve promotion was Sheffield United, which replaced the relegated Accrington F.C.

Relegation often has devastating financial consequences for club owners who not only lose TV, sponsorship and gate income but may also see the asset value of their shares in the club collapse. Some leagues offer a "parachute payment" to its relegated teams for the following years in order to protect them from bankruptcy. If a team is promoted back to the higher tier the following year then the parachute payment for the second season is distributed among the teams of the lower division. There is of course a corresponding bonanza for promoted clubs.

The league does not choose which cities are to have teams in the top division. For example, Leeds, the fourth-biggest city in England, saw their team relegated from the Premier League to the Championship in 2004, and then saw their team relegated to the third-tier League One in 2007. Leeds will remain without a Premiership team as long as it takes for Leeds United or in theory any other local club to do well enough in the second-tier division to win the right to play in the Premiership. Famously, the French Ligue 1 lacked a team from Paris for some years.

As well as having no right to being in a certain tier, a club also has no territorial rights to its own area. A successful new team in a geographical location can come to dominate the incumbents. In Munich, for example, TSV 1860 München were initially more successful than the city's current biggest team Bayern München. London has 14 professional teams, including five Premier League teams.

Clubs may be sold privately to new owners at any time, but this does not happen often where clubs are based on community membership and agreement. Such clubs require agreement from members who, unlike shareholders of corporations, have priorities other than money when it comes to their football club. For similar reasons, relocation of clubs to other cities is very rare. This is mostly because virtually all cities and towns in Europe have a football club of some sort, the size and strength of the club usually relative to the town's size and importance. Anyone wanting ownership of a high ranked club in his native city must buy the local club as it stands and work it up through the divisions, usually by hiring better talent. Buying an existing top-flight club and move it to the city is problematic, as the supporters of the town's original club are unlikely to switch allegiance to an interloper. There have been some cases where existing owners have chosen to relocate out of a difficult market, to better facilities, or simply to realize the market value of the land that the current stadium is built upon. As in the U.S., team relocations have been controversial as supporters of the club will protest at its loss.

Systems around the world

Leagues around the world generally follow one or other of these systems. Most sport leagues in Australia are based on the North American model, with the most notable examples being the Australian Football League (Aussie rules) and National Rugby League (rugby league). Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan uses this system due to American influence on the game. In cricket, the Indian Premier League, launched in 2008, also operates on this system. The Super League, which is the top level of rugby league in the United Kingdom and France, will be run on a franchise basis from 2009.

The promotion-relegation system is widely used in football around the world, notably in Africa and Latin America as well as Europe. The most notable variation has developed in Latin America where many countries have two league seasons per year, which scheduling allows because many Latin American nations lack a national cup competition. Promotion and relegation has historically been used in other team sports founded in the United Kingdom, such as rugby union, rugby league and cricket.

The European model is also used in Europe even when the sports were founded in America, showing that the league system adopted is not determined by the sport itself, but more on the tradition of sports organisation in that region. Sports such as basketball in Spain and Lithuania and ice hockey in Russia use promotion and relegation. In the same vein, the Australian A-League does not use the pyramid structure normally found in football, but instead follows the tradition of Australian sports having a franchise model and a playoff system that better suits a country with a few important central locations where a sport needs to ensure there is a team playing with no risk of relegation.

East Asian countries such as Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan have a particular differentiation among leagues: "European" sports such as football and rugby use promotion and relegation, while "American" sports such as baseball and basketball use franchising, with a few differences varying from country to country. A similar situation exists in countries in Central America and the Caribbean, where football and baseball share several close markets.

See also

Gate receipts

History of Baseball

Football In England

Football In Italy

Football In Germany

Football In Australia

European Football

Football In Spain

Football In France

Football In The Netherlands

Football In Portugal

Football In Scotland

Rugby Football League

English Hockey League

EuroHockey Club Champions Cup

Handball-Bundesliga

Liga ASOBAL

EHF Cup

References

Further reading

Cain, Louis P. and Haddock, David D.; 2005; 'Similar Economic Histories, Different Industrial Structures: Transatlantic Contrasts in the Evolution of Professional Sports Leagues'; Journal of Economic History 65 (4); pp1116-1147

Category:Sports terminology Category:Sports law Category:Sports business

Name	Steve Francis
Width	95 kg
Position	Guard
Height ft	6
Height in	3
Weight lb	210
Birth date	February 21, 1977
Birth place	Takoma Park, Maryland
Nationality	American
Highschool	Montgomery Blair
College	Maryland
Draft year	1999
Draft round	1
Draft pick	2
Draft team	Vancouver Grizzlies
Career start	1999
Career end	present
Teams
Highlights

Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977, in Takoma Park, Maryland) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association. He formerly played for the Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic, and New York Knicks. Nicknamed "Stevie Franchise" and self-described as "Steve-O", he was known early in his career for his crossover dribble, driving ability, and flashy dunks.

Early years

Francis grew up in Takoma Park, Maryland, with little money and no father. He was nicknamed "Wink" as a child.

Francis attended the San Jacinto College of Texas in 1996–97, and the Allegany College of Maryland in 1997–98. Francis became the first player to take two unbeaten teams into the National Junior College Tournament.

The Terrapins finished second in the ACC and Francis was named to the All-ACC first team and the All ACC Tournament team. The Terrapins were a number 2 seed in the NCAA tournament but were defeated by St. John's in the Sweet 16. Under Francis' leadership, Maryland finished with a school record-setting 28 wins and only 6 losses and were ranked #5 in the final Associated Press poll.

Francis finished the season averaging 17 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, and 2.8 steals per game. He was a consensus second-team All-American and was named a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year Awards. Although he stated he was "99% sure" he would return to Maryland for his senior season, he opted to enter the NBA draft.

NBA career

Houston Rockets (1999–2004)

Francis was selected second in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He publicly announced that he did not want to play for the Grizzlies, citing the distance from his Maryland home, taxes, endorsements, and God's will. Heavily criticized for his antics, especially in Vancouver, he relented and briefly considered joining the Grizzlies before contentious negotiations and an incident at the Vancouver airport convinced both the franchise and Francis they needed to go separate ways.

Francis got his wish, being traded before the 1999–2000 season began to the Houston Rockets in a three-team, 11-player deal that brought Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, Antoine Carr and Brent Price, plus first- and second-round picks to the Grizzlies. It was the largest trade in NBA history.

Despite sharing Rookie of the Year honors with Elton Brand and finishing as runner-up to Vince Carter in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, the Francis-led Rockets finished with a 34–48 record.

The next season the Rockets improved to 45–37 but still missed the playoffs. In his 3rd year, Francis upped his game and was chosen by fans to start the 2002 NBA All-Star contest, but ended up playing only 55 games due to a foot injury and recurring Ménière's-induced migraines. As a result the Rockets posted a dismal 28–54 record, propelling them into the lottery, where they selected 7'6" Chinese center Yao Ming with the first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Francis and Yao gelled their first season together, being selected as 2003 All-Star Game starters. Francis scored a career-high 44 points in a nationally televised home win against the Lakers on January 17, 2003. In the middle of the season, Mobley was traded to the Sacramento Kings, which upset Francis. The Magic slumped late and missed the playoffs.

The following season, a disgruntled Francis was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. However, rumors persisted that Francis would be traded to the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets. Prior to the trade, the Denver Nuggets reportedly offered both Watson and Kenyon Martin for Francis, but the deal never took place. He made his Madison Square Garden debut on Friday, February 24 when the New York Knicks faced the New Jersey Nets, and scored 16 points in a 94–90 loss for the Knicks. He wore jersey #1 with the Knicks as his usual #3 was already assigned to Stephon Marbury. which then bought out the remaining two years of Francis's contract for a reported $30 million, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Return to Houston (2007–2009)

The Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and the L.A. Clippers pursued Francis.

Francis used his contract option to come back to the Houston Rockets for the 2008–09 NBA season. He lost 15 pounds for training camp, but he was not able to play in the beginning of the season due to the recovery period of his injury.

On December 24, 2008, The Houston Rockets traded Francis back to the team that had originally drafted him, the Memphis Grizzlies, for a 2011 conditional draft pick. The move allowed the Rockets to drop under the luxury tax threshold. However, on January 27, 2009, it was reported that the Grizzlies waived Francis, without ever appearing in a game for them.

Chinese Basketball Association

In November 2010, Francis signed with the Beijing Ducks. He averaged 0.5 points and 0.7 rebounds over four games, playing 14 minutes before leaving the team in late December to return to America.

Personal

In September 2001, a tornado struck the University of Maryland campus and killed two students and displaced 700 more from their dormitory. Francis, who was on the campus at the time, arranged to sponsor a dinner for the displaced students before he flew back to Houston for his third season with the Rockets. He said, "I remember all of the people here supporting me while I was a Maryland student, and this is just a small way that I can give back to those who have helped me."

On February 17, 2002, Francis' #23 jersey was honored (but not retired) by Maryland in a ceremony preceding the game against the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils. Francis sat on the team's bench during the game and cheered as the Terrapins upset the Blue Devils 87–73.

On election day 2008, Francis supported presidential candidate Barack Obama by wearing a red velvet sports jacket with "Barack Obama" spelled on the back in sequins. Francis said he's followed the presidential race closely. "It's important that there is an African-American candidate running," Francis said. "I never thought I'd see the day that would happen. Right now, we're at a pivotal point. It's a great feeling for me." .

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 1999–00 | align="left" | Houston | 77 || 77 || 36.1 || .445 || .345 || .786 || 5.3 || 6.6 || 1.5 || .4 || 18.0 |- | align="left" | 2000–01 | align="left" | Houston | 80 || 79 || 39.9 || .451 || .396 || .817 || 6.9 || 6.5 || 1.8 || .4 || 19.9 |- | align="left" | 2001–02 | align="left" | Houston | 57 || 56 || 41.1 || .417 || .324 || .773 || 7.0 || 6.4 || 1.2 || .4 || 21.6 |- | align="left" | 2002–03 | align="left" | Houston | 81 || 81 || 41.0 || .435 || .354 || .800 || 6.2 || 6.2 || 1.7 || .5 || 21.0 |- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Houston | 79 || 79 || 40.4 || .403 || .292 || .775 || 5.5 || 6.2 || 1.8 || .4 || 16.6 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Orlando | 78 || 78 || 38.2 || .423 || .299 || .823 || 5.8 || 7.0 || 1.4 || .4 || 21.3 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Orlando | 46 || 45 || 37.7 || .433 || .257 || .797 || 4.8 || 5.7 || 1.1 || .2 || 16.2 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | New York | 24 || 15 || 27.5 || .442 || .538 || .761 || 3.0 || 3.5 || 1.0 || .2 || 10.8 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | New York | 44 || 30 || 28.1 || .408 || .378 || .829 || 3.6 || 3.9 || .9 || .3 || 11.3 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Houston | 10 || 3 || 19.9 || .333 || .235 || .565 || 2.3 || 3.0 || .9 || .5 || 5.5 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 576 || 543 || 37.6 || .429 || .341 || .797 || 5.6 || 6.0 || 1.5 || .3 || 18.1 |- | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 3 || 3 || 24.3 || .552 || .500 || .500 || 2.7 || 5.3 || .7 || .0 || 12.0

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Houston | 5 || 5 || 44.4 || .429 || .412 || .725 || 8.4 || 7.6 || 1.4 || .2 || 19.2 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 5 || 5 || 44.4 || .429 || .412 || .725 || 8.4 || 7.6 || 1.4 || .2 || 19.2

CBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" | Beijing | 4 || 0 || 3.4 || .375 || .000 || .000 || .8 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .5 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 4 || 0 || 3.4 || .375 || .000 || .000 || .8 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .5

References

External links

NBA.com profile

ClutchFans.net Steve Francis Profile - Houston Rocket Fan Site

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:American expatriate basketball people in China Category:Basketball players from Maryland Category:Houston Rockets players Category:Orlando Magic players Category:New York Knicks players Category:Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Category:Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players Category:Vancouver Grizzlies draft picks Category:Point guards Category:Shooting guards

Name	Rudy Gay
Position	Forward
Height ft	6
Height in	8
Weight lb	230
Team	Memphis Grizzlies
Number	22
Nationality	American
Birth date	August 17, 1986
Birth place	Baltimore, Maryland
College	Connecticut
High school	Eastern TechnicalArchbishop Spalding
Draft round	1
Draft pick	8
Draft year	2006
Draft team	Houston Rockets
Career start	2006
Teams	Memphis Grizzlies (2006-Present)

Rudy Carlton Gay, Jr. (born August 17, 1986 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Memphis Grizzlies. He played collegiately at the University of Connecticut before turning pro.

Early life

Gay began playing competitive recreational basketball at 12 years old in the Turner Station community of Baltimore County, Maryland in one of the toughest youth basketball leagues in the area. Early exposure to Baltimore AAU basketball and summer league games in the Tom Jones Youth Summer League in Washington, D.C., showcased his abilities against top competition.

At the age of 14, Gay began playing for the nationally-known Cecil-Kirk AAU program under Coach Anthony Lewis with other blue-chip players such as Josh Boone (UConn), Paris Carter (N Mexico), and Chester Frazier (Illinois). During the spring of his 8th grade year, Gay and teammate Scott Dozier were highly sought after by several private schools. Gay attended Eastern Technical High School in Baltimore County, while Dozier enrolled at the St. Paul's School. Rudy transferred to Archbishop Spalding High School of the Baltimore Catholic League after his sophomore year at Eastern Tech.

High school career

Gay played his first two years at Baltimore County's Eastern Technical High School, a magnet school in Essex. He played varsity basketball both years. Although Eastern Tech was a Blue Ribbon academic institution, Gay's parents were concerned about his college preparation and during the summer of his sophomore year solicited help from Coach Collins who suggested several private schools, including Archbishop Spalding High School. After reviewing each school's long term academic curriculum, it was decided that Gay would attend Spalding. Gay began playing for Spalding his Junior and senior years. He was one of the top recruits entering college play after attending Archbishop Spalding High School where he was 1st team All-Baltimore Catholic League honors as a junior and senior, and was also honored as the Baltimore Sun's co-player of the year. He was the Washington Post All Met Basketball Player of the Year, McDonald's All-American, and a Parade First Team All-American in his senior year after averaging 21.2 points per game, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks.

Gay's college recruitment and decision to attend the University of Connecticut over the University of Maryland were controversial. Gay had expressed a desire to attend Maryland and said that he grew up rooting for the team, but he ultimately chose UConn. Because of the heavy involvement of an AAU coach and a high school coach, there was the appearance of impropriety, although no NCAA recruiting violations were discovered. Although it violated no standing rule at the time, media observers and Connecticut staff considered it directly connected to the recruitment. According to individuals close to Maryland head coach Gary Williams, the recruitment demonstrated that rule bending is often necessary to secure highly touted players, which Williams said he is unwilling to do, even at the expense of recruiting.

College career

Throughout his college career, Gay was known for his high-flying dunks and versatility. He was a co-winner (with Jeff Green of Georgetown University) of the 2005 Big East Conference Freshman of the Year award. Gay was also named the National Freshman of the Year by The Sporting News.

In the summer of 2005, Gay was invited to play for the USA's Men's Under-21 World Championship Team. He posted one double-double while averaging 10.5 points a game and 5.5 rebounds.

Before his sophomore season began, Gay was nominated as Big East Preseason player of the year, along with Syracuse star, Gerry McNamara. After the season concluded, Gay was one of four division one college players nominated for the Naismith College Player of the Year Award (along with J. J. Redick, Adam Morrison, and Allan Ray). Also, he was a unanimous selection to the Big East's First Team. He tallied his career high in points with 28 versus Arkansas in the second game of the 2005–2006 season. Gay led the UConn Huskies to a 30–3 record, often the highest scorer, before losing to #11 seed George Mason in overtime, 86–84.

NBA career

Draft

Gay, widely regarded as one of the top future NBA prospects, announced on April 17 that he would enter the 2006 NBA Draft. He was selected with the 8th overall pick in the draft by the Houston Rockets, who then traded him and Stromile Swift to Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shane Battier.

Memphis Grizzlies

Gay averaged 10.8 points per game to help the Grizzlies win 22 games in 2007. In 2007–2008, Gay's second season, he averaged 20.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game; After Pau Gasol was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the season, he became the team's leading scorer. The Grizzlies still ended up with the same record as the previous year.

After his invitation to the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest, Gay and YouTube teamed up for the Rudy Gay Slam Dunk Contest promotion, in which he asked fans to upload footage of their best dunks for him to attempt during the contest. During the contest he performed a one handed reverse clutch dunk in the first round and during the second round teammate Mike Conley Jr. alley-ooped the ball off the bar and from behind the backboard Gay regathered and pulled off a windmill dunk. He ended with a score of 85 but did not advance to the second round. He was invited to participate in a second dunk contest during the 2009 All-Star Weekend, but was replaced by J.R. Smith due to injuries.

On December 13, 2009, Gay scored a career-high 41 points against the Miami Heat.

}} On July 1, 2010, Gay re-signed with the Memphis Grizzlies for a contract worth $82 million over 5 years.

Statistics

;2003–2004 (High School Senior)

21.2 Points Per Game

9.2 Rebounds Per Game

3.7 Blocks Per Game

;2004–2005 (UCONN Freshman)

11.4 Points Per Game

5.4 Rebounds Per Game

1.5 Assists Per Game

1.9 Blocks Per Game

;2005–2006 (UCONN Sophomore)

15.2 Points Per Game

6.4 Rebounds Per Game

2.1 Assists Per Game

1.6 Blocks Per Game

NBA career

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Memphis | 78 || 43 || 27.0 || .422 || .364 || .727 || 4.5 || 1.3 || .9 || .9 || 10.8 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Memphis | 81 || 81 || 37.0 || .461 || .346 || .785 || 6.2 || 2.0 || 1.4 || 1.0 || 20.1 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Memphis | 79 || 78 || 37.3 || .453 || .351 || .767 || 5.5 || 1.7 || 1.2 || .8 || 18.9 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" |Memphis | 80 || 80 || 39.7 || .466 || .327 || .752 || 5.9 || 1.9 || 1.5 || .8 || 19.6 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 318 || 282 || 35.3 || .454 || .346 || .760 || 5.5 || 1.7 || 1.2 || .9 || 17.4

References

External links

The Official Site of Rudy Gay

Rudy Gay NBA Draft Profile

USA Basketball profile

ESPN college profile

Bio @ uconnhuskies.com

Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:People from Baltimore, Maryland Category:African American basketball players Category:Connecticut Huskies men's basketball players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:Houston Rockets draft picks Category:Memphis Grizzlies players Category:Shooting guards Category:Small forwards Category:Basketball players from Maryland Category:United States men's national basketball team members