Kendall Gray, an American-born centre who played for Rwanda’s national basketball team since 2022, has called time on his career, aged 33. Born in California, Gray is one of the foreign players who were summoned to play for Rwanda as the team sought to strengthen its ranks for international competitions. ALSO READ: Kendall Gray on his desire to guide Rwanda to FIBA World Cup The 2.08m man was part of the national team squad that won a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA AfroCan tournament in Angola. In an interview with Times Sport, he said what stands out in his career in general is all the work that he put in mentally and physically off the court. “Countless days where I would be working out all day just to imagine having a chance to play professionally,” he said. “Any athlete will tell you they remember all of the ups and downs but ‘we made it’ is most important. I have had a lot of great experiences everywhere I have played and met many people which I consider family till this day,” he added. Asked about how was for him to play Rwanda, he pointed out that Rwanda was “the best thing” to ever happen to him. “I found my love for life again. To the beautiful country and beautiful people that welcomed me, I am forever grateful, I always speak highly of you all,” he said. ALSO READ: FIBA World Cup qualifiers: Center Kendall Gray joins national team camp On whether he considers going further in basketball in other respects for example coaching? On what his next step is, he noted that he wants to try to give back to the game in terms of mentorship in whatever aspect, including coaching or writing to encourage youngsters. “I just want to shift mentalities knowing that no goal is unreachable,” he said. “So this isn’t goodbye; you will see a lot more of me. Thank you, basketball!” he added. Gray played college basketball for Delaware State University and was named the 2014–15 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year, becoming only the fourth player in school history to earn the honour. His professional career took him to clubs like Medi Bayreuth in Germany, MKS Dąbrowa Górnicza in Poland, JS Kairouan in Tunisia, and the Patriots BBC in Rwanda Basketball League.
