Rudy Gay Injury: Updates on Kings Star's Knee and Return

Sacramento Kings star Rudy Gay left the floor during a Jan. 13 game against the Dallas Mavericks with a left knee strain. He came off the bench on Jan. 17 against the Los Angeles Clippers, and started on Jan. 19 against the Portland Trail Blazers. 

Continue for updates.

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Gay Starts vs. Blazers

Monday, Jan. 19

Rudy Gay registered 26 points and five rebounds in 39 minutes of action in his return to the Kings' starting lineup. The Blazers would go on to defeat the Kings 98-94. 

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Gay Makes Surprise Bench Appearance vs. Clippers

Saturday, Jan. 17

Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee provides an update on Gay's status:

However, Jones later reported that Gay made a surprising appearance off the bench:

Gay missed Sacramento's game vs. the Miami Heat on Friday, per NBA.com's Jason Wise.

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Gay Undergoes MRI After Exiting vs. Dallas

Tuesday, Jan. 13

News10 Sacramento, via R.J. White of CBS Sports revealed the MRI results for Gay's knee after the injury forced him from the team's loss against Dallas:

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An MRI on the injured knee of Kings small forward Rudy Gay revealed a lateral joint capsule sprain in his left knee, News10 Sacramento reports.

Gay appears to have escaped major injury after suffering the knee sprain Tuesday, and he's considered day-to-day moving forward. 

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Tendinitis in his right Achilles slowed Gay earlier in the season. Otherwise, he's been a welcome addition in Sacramento, as the Kings have seen Gay blossom into the All-Star-caliber player he has always been capable of being.

Gay told Bleacher Report's Howard Beck in December how he's keen to capitalize on his immense talent:

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It's now or never, man. I don't want to sit back and look at my career and think about what I could have been, or how good I could have been, or what I could have done. I want to be a complete player. I want to be a player that guys will love playing with. And I'm working on that. I'm continuing to work on that.

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The Kings are a surprise fixture in the loaded Western Conference playoff picture in 2014-15 thanks to Gay's continued progression and big man DeMarcus Cousins' emergence as a leader.

However, Cousins was out for 10 games after a promising start due to a severe case of viral meningitis, and the team went 2-8 in his absence.