His sister's partner, Mario Procter, was shot and killed in Los Angeles shortly before Gayle joined the Otago Nuggets last week.
In the LA suburb of Long Beach, drive-by shootings happen frequently.
‘‘There had been a lot of gang violence but he was just sitting on the porch,'' the 28-year-old American guard said.
‘‘He had just dropped my nephew off at my grandmother's house and an hour later they rang me and told me he had been killed.''
Gayle took the news of ‘‘Gusto's'' death hard. He had lost a family member and a friend.
Gayle is part of a big family. He has eight brothers, seven sisters, 13 nephews and nieces and two daughters.
Dressed all in black yesterday his sweatshirt had a transfer of Gusto, his sister and their child, with the words ‘‘Gone But Never Forgotten'' printed at the bottom.
Last Friday, another friend - ‘‘Tweeter'' - was shot and killed while on a date with his girlfriend at a skating rink.
After attending three funerals within a week in February, Gayle then headed to Kazakhstan to play for the Astana Tigers.
The experience did not live up to his expectations and he jumped at the opportunity to
link up with his former coach, Don Sims, at the Nuggets.
Gayle has made an immediate impact on the National Basketball League, compiling 50 points in his first two matches.
That he can play basketball at all is a minor miracle after the California State, Bakersfield graduate was shot in the leg during his senior year.
‘‘One of my friends had a fight and they came back after school. Everybody was fighting and the dude pulled a gun out. I got shot with a small-calibre gun. If I had been shot with a bigger calibre gun I would never have played basketball again.''
Through basketball, Gayle hopes to provide a better life for his daughters, Elasia (7) and Bailee (9 months). He has ‘‘2 Lives'' tattooed on both hands as a reminder he is living for them and to make the most of his opportunities.
Gayle will play his first home game for the Nuggets against the Taranaki Dynamos tonight.
