Rudy Gay is officially retiring.

The former Toronto Raptors forward shared a heartfelt message to NBA fans on “The Players Tribune” Tuesday morning to announce his retirement from professional basketball after 17 seasons in the league. Gay last played for the Utah Jazz in 2022-2023 and has not been on a regular NBA roster since.

Gay’s career did not go quite as he had hoped, he acknowledged in the article. He struggled with injuries throughout the latter part of his career and frequently bounced between teams during the rebuilding phases.

‘My story, it is not a fairy tale. Ultimately, I would say it was… complicated,” he wrote in the article.

That was certainly the case in Toronto, where Gay played in just 51 games with the Raptors who acquired him from Memphis in 2013. Gay was brought in alongside Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan as a foundational part of Toronto’s organization, but his time with the Raptors quickly went into disarray. He struggled to score efficiently and was quickly traded to the Sacramento Kings in December 2013.

Toronto’s decision to trade Gay led to the start of the organization, as the Raptors immediately made seven consecutive playoff appearances following Gay’s departure. Toronto turned Gay into Patrick Patterson, John Salmons, Chuck Hayes and Greivis Vasquez who became rotation players for the Raptors as Toronto rebounded from a 6–12 start to the 2013–14 season with Gay and ultimately clinched a playoff berth that season.

Gay calls DeRozan a friend and mentor who helped Gay transition into the second phase of his career with the San Antonio Spurs following his Achilles injury. DeRozan and Gay were first teammates in Toronto before both later joined the Spurs.

‘That’s my brother there. I really appreciate his friendship,” Gay said of DeRozan. “How he has helped me over the years and was always there when I needed his advice, or just someone to listen to me. And I hope he feels like I’ve been as good a friend to him over the years as he has been to me. We’ve definitely both been through some things in this game and in life, and since we became friends in Toronto, we’ve leaned on each other like true, real friends do.

Gay previously criticized Toronto and suggested he never wanted to join the Raptors again after his time in Memphis. However, Gay said his time in Toronto was “great” in his retirement post.