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Tyler Hansbrough: I hated Gerald Henderson for a long time
Tyler Hansbrough on when Gerald Henderson broke his nose in college: “People come up to me like ‘Oh hey you remember that game when you had all that blood?’ Yeah that incident… I hated Gerald Henderson for a long time. I was going to get him back in some capacity — cheap shot, whatever. I know people look down on that, but I was ready. It never happened. Years later, me and Gerald — he’s actually a really good dude. I consider him a friend now. We did a podcast together. I like Gerald a lot, so we’re kind of over that. But that incident? People still bring it up to me — ‘Oh hey, you remember that game when you had all that blood?’”
Michael Jordan, especially early on his tenure as owner, was hands-on. He would make himself accessible to players. Occasionally, he even reminded them of why he’s, arguably, the greatest player of all time. Gerald Henderson: We were getting our ass kicked for about a week. I show up to the training room the next morning. I was a rookie so I had to get my stuff out of the way first and he’s already in there stretching and he’s got practice gear on. I said “What are you about to do, man?” He said “I’m gonna come up there and kick y’all ass.” He’s in there talking s–t for however long. He comes up there and he gets into our scrimmages. He jumped on our second team. Our first team had like Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace, Raymond Felton, and — who else started that year? — Boris Diaw. On our second team it was me, Derrick Brown, DJ Augustin, maybe Tyrus Thomasand somebody else. He looked like prime Michael Jordan, without the quickness and the jumping ability. But it was just all MJ work. Talking smack the whole time.
Gerald Henderson:: He kept going back and forth with Stephen Jackson. Jack at that time was like a borderline All-Star. He had a really good season the season before and I think in the media he was talking about how he should have been an All-Star. I guess Jack went to the basket and throws up a shot and the coaches didn’t call a foul. Jack yells out, “Yo, that’s a foul,” this and that. MJ comes down and hits the game-winner. Game’s over and Jack is still talking, “that’s a foul.” Jordan goes “The MFer ain’t never been an All-Star but wants all the All-Star calls.” We was like “Oh, s–t. Damn that was a little harsh.”
Gerald Henderson announces retirement
Gerald Henderson: I've learned so many things from the game. There's always been more to life than basketball. And for me, going forward, there's tons of life left. At 31 right now, I'd only be playing for so much longer. I’m retiring kind of early for what one would think would be a long NBA career, whether it's 12, 13 years, whatever that is. But the average is probably around three, four years.
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Gerald Henderson: The big thing is my injuries. I've had six surgeries since 2008. Wrist surgery. Hip surgeries. Achilles surgery. They piled up, among other injuries that haven't needed surgery. They just kind of accumulated and made it very difficult to play and to play healthy, to put everything into actual basketball.
Gerald Henderson: Then, this Hornets broadcasting opportunity came to me in January. I've done a little bit of broadcasting in the past. I did the pre- and post-game show for Fox Sports Southeast and it was perfect for me. I'm really learning about it and I think I have a career in that going forward, if I choose to do that. And I learned a lot this year from everybody there. Broadcasting, it's a fun thing. I get to still be around basketball and talk basketball.
Chris Haynes: Former NBA player Gerald Henderson is joining Charlotte Hornets’ TV broadcast team for FOX Sports Southeast in what appears to be for remainder of the season, sources say.
Gerald Henderson handled the hip pain on the basketball court, playing multiple seasons with severe arthritis. But he had enough of the pain that drifted into his everyday life. “My hip had deteriorated so much, it was bone on bone,” he said. “It was grinding all day whenever I wanted to move. Working out for any extended period was painful. It was just tough then going home with the family and you’re in pain, you’re just kind of on edge. Just overall, I was not in a great state of mind, and I had to make that decision, and it was the best decision for myself and my family and for my health.”
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Now, he’s ready to rejoin the NBA. He had teams willing to sign him a year ago despite the bad hip. “In terms of my hip, it’s the best it’s been in a long time,” Henderson said. “You go three or four years and you have an injury, a lot of stuff gets off balance. Overall, I’ve been able to get my body into really good shape – strength and mobility from my toes to my head. It’s been a therapeutic year.”
Had it not been for offseason hip surgery, Gerald Henderson would have been on an NBA roster this season. Now six months removed from surgery, Henderson has been cleared to play and could be a key addition for a team looking for a wing off the bench. A career 44 percent shooter from the field and 33 percent from 3, Henderson has played in 15 playoff games in his career.
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