Gerald Henderson Jr.
Gerald Henderson Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 9, 1987 |
| Occupation | Professional basketball player (retired) |
| Years active | 2009–2017 |
| Known for | NBA player for Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers |
Jerome McKinley "Gerald" Henderson Jr. (born December 9, 1987) is a retired American professional basketball athlete who competed for eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played collegiate basketball representing the Duke Blue Devils. Henderson was chosen 12th overall in the 2009 NBA draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. He is the son of former NBA player Gerald Henderson.
High school career
Henderson attended Episcopal Academy located in Merion, Pennsylvania, where he was a teammate of future UNC standout Wayne Ellington. As a freshman, he earned all-conference accolades in golf and secured league titles twice in both high jump and triple jump events. Ranked as the 18th top senior by The Recruiting Services Consensus Index, Henderson exhibited significant athletic diversity early on.
College career
After limited playing time during his freshman year, Henderson secured a starting role as a sophomore, averaging 12.7 points per contest. In his junior season, he led Duke with an average of 16.5 points per game, received First-Team All-ACC recognition, and contributed to winning the ACC tournament championship. Duke entered the NCAA tournament seeded second.
Charlotte Bobcats / Hornets (2009–2015)
Following his junior season, Henderson declared for the 2009 NBA draft and was selected 12th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats. He inked a multi-year agreement with the franchise on July 8, 2009.
The Bobcats picked up the third-year option on his contract on October 29, 2010. The 2011–12 campaign marked a significant breakthrough for Henderson despite the team’s historically poor performance. He achieved personal bests in playing time (33.3 minutes per game), shooting efficiency (45.9%), rebounds (4.1), assists (2.3), and scoring output (15.1 points per game), establishing himself as the primary offensive weapon.
On March 12, 2013, Henderson recorded a career-high 35 points during a victory over the Boston Celtics, then matched that scoring feat seventeen days later against the New York Knicks.
The Bobcats issued a qualifying offer on June 28, 2013, designating him as a restricted free agent; Henderson re-signed with Charlotte on July 30, 2013.
On January 8, 2015, he tallied a season-best 31 points to lead the Hornets to their fourth straight win against the Toronto Raptors.
Henderson opted to exercise his player option for the 2015–16 season on June 17, 2015.
Portland Trail Blazers (2015–2016)
On June 24, 2015, Henderson was traded alongside Noah Vonleh to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Nicolas Batum. On December 15, he scored 19 points including tying his career-high with four three-pointers in a 105–101 triumph over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Philadelphia 76ers (2016–2017)
Henderson signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on July 9, 2016. The team waived him on June 30, 2017.
Injuries and retirement
Undergoing hip surgery on August 2, 2017, Henderson missed the entire 2017–18 NBA season while recovering. After a third hip operation and aiming for an NBA return in 2018, he suffered an Achilles tendon rupture during a pickup game. In January 2019, he joined the Charlotte Hornets' broadcast team at Fox Sports Southeast for the remainder of that season. Henderson officially announced his retirement from professional basketball on April 30, 2019.
Regular season
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 43 || 0 || 8.3 || .356 || .157 || .745 || 1.3 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 2.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 68 || 30 || 24.4 || .454 || .194 || .785 || 3.0 || 1.5 || 0.7 || 0.5 || 9.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 55 || 55 || 33.3 || .459 || .234 || .760 || 4.1 || 2.3 || 0.9 || 0.4 || 15.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 68 || 58 || 31.4 || .447 || .330 || .824 || 3.7 || 2.6 || 1.0 || 0.5 || 15.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 77 || 77 || 32.0 || .433 || .348 || .761 || 4.0 || 2.6 || 0.7 || 0.4 || 14.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Charlotte | 80 || 72 || 28.9 || .437 || .331 || .848 || 3.4 || 2.6|| 0.6|| 0.3||12.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Portland | 72||0||19.9|| .439|| .353|| .767||2.9||1.0||0.5||0.3||8.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;" | Philadelphia |72||41||23.2|| .423|| .353|| .806||2.6||1.6||0.6||0.2||9.2 |- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |535||333||25.9|| .440|| .327|| .793||3.2||1.9||0.7||0.3||11.2
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 2014 | style="text-align:left;" | Charlotte |4|| 4|| 29.8|| .378|| .000|| .647|| 4.0|| 2.3|| 1.0|| 0.3|| 9.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | 2016 | style="text-align:left;" | Portland | 11||0||21.3|| .366|| .368|| .750||3.2||1.5||0.5||| 0.3|||6.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |15||4||23.5||| .370||| .250||| .690|||3.4|||1.7|||0.7|||0.3|||7.7