Rudy Gay Has A Fractured Jaw

During Team USA’s victory over Lithuania, Kings forward Rudy Gay went down with an elbow to the face. Gay told USA Today that he has a fractured jaw, a broken tooth and will probably need a root canal. (Ironically enough, Gay’s teammate DeMarcus Cousins took an elbow to the throat against the Lithuanians.)

Gay is reportedly still available to play in Sunday’s gold medal game against Serbia.

Here’s some blurry footage of the play.

Gay took a vicious elbow to the top of his mouth in the third quarter of Team USA’s Thursday win over Lithuania, and the damage done will be coming home with even after Sunday’s gold medal game against Serbia in this FIBA World Cup comes to an end.

 

“I’ve got a fracture in my jaw, a broken tooth and am going to probably need a root canal,” Gay told USA TODAY Sports. “The top is where I got hit. It’s painful. It’s uncomfortable, and it still bleeds, so I’ve got to continuously gargle. It is what it is, man.”

 

What it was, as Gay sees it, was an unnecessary play that he was sure to voice his opinion about at the time. While Gay had to leave the game because of the hit, he spoke up in the handshake line after the game. That sparked a shouting match between the two teams, included USA coach Mike Krzyzewski waving his arms amid the chaos and trying to play peacemaker.

 

“I think (the elbow) had a little bit to do with (the situation afterward),” Gay said. “It was a dirty play, man. It was a dirty play.”