Jerome McKinley "Gerald" Henderson Sr. (born January 16, 1956) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He was a

combo guard A combo guard is a basketball player who combines the attributes of a point guard (1) and shooting guard (2), but does not necessarily fit the standard description of either position. In men's basketball, such guards are usually within the 6' 3" ...

who had a 13-year career in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) from 1979 until 1992. He played for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

, Seattle SuperSonics,

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, and

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

. Henderson was born in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

and attended Virginia Commonwealth University. Henderson is best known for his steal of a James Worthy pass to score a game-tying layup in Game 2 of the

1984 NBA Finals The 1984 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 1983–84 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Wes ...

between the Boston Celtics and the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. The Celtics eventually prevailed in overtime. In a post-game interview, Henderson said that "For a minute I could hear Johnny Most going, 'Henderson steals the ball!'", in reference to Most's famous call of

John Havlicek John Joseph Havlicek (often nicknamed Hondo) ( ; April 8, 1940 – April 25, 2019) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A swingman, Hav ...

's steal in the 1965 Eastern Conference finals. Most's actual words were "It goes quickly in now to Magic, back over to Worthy, and it's picked off! Goes to Henderson, he lays it up and in! It's all tied up! A great play by Henderson!" In the fall of 1984, Henderson was traded to Seattle for the Sonics' first-round pick in 1986, which the Celtics would use to draft Len Bias. He then played for the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, and Milwaukee Bucks in a three-year span before joining the Detroit Pistons before the 1989–90 season. In Game 4 of that year's NBA Finals, with the Pistons holding a one-point lead over the Trail Blazers, Henderson made a fast-break layup with just over a second to play to push the lead to three points instead of dribbling out the clock. The decision nearly backfired when Portland's Danny Young appeared to make a game-tying desperation three-pointer, but the officials correctly ruled that Young's shot was released just after the buzzer. The Pistons took a 3–1 series lead and won the next game to give Henderson his third NBA championship. As of 2006, he and his wife run a real estate business in

Blue Bell, Pennsylvania Blue Bell is a census-designated place (CDP) in Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 6,506. Blue Bell was originally known as Pigeontown, after the large flocks of the now-extinct passenge ...

. Their son, Gerald Henderson Jr. was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats of the

in the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball p ...

. Gerald Jr. played eight NBA seasons for the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets,

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

, and

. In 2012, Henderson was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1979–80 , align="left" ,

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 76 , , 2 , , 14.0 , , .500 , , .333 , , .690 , , 1.1 , , 1.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 6.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" , 1980–81† , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 10 , , 19.6 , , .451 , , .063 , , .720 , , 1.6 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 7.8 , - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 31 , , 22.5 , , .501 , , .167 , , .727 , , 1.9 , , 3.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 10.2 , - , align="left" , 1982–83 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 9 , , 18.9 , , .463 , , .188 , , .722 , , 1.5 , , 2.4 , , 1.2 , , 0.0 , , 8.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" , 1983–84† , align="left" ,

, 78 , , 78 , , 26.8 , , .524 , , .351 , , .768 , , 1.9 , , 3.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.2 , , 11.6 , - , align="left" , 1984–85 , align="left" ,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, 79 , , 78 , , 33.5 , , .479 , , .237 , , .780 , , 2.4 , , 7.1 , , 1.8 , , 0.1 , , 13.4 , - , align="left" , 1985–86 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 82 , , 31.3 , , .482 , , .346 , , .830 , , 2.3 , , 5.9 , , 1.7 , , 0.1 , , 13.1 , - , align="left" , 1986–87 , align="left" ,

, 6 , , 6 , , 25.8 , , .500 , , .000 , , .944 , , 1.5 , , 5.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 11.2 , - , align="left" , 1986–87 , align="left" , New York , 68 , , 53 , , 27.8 , , .438 , , .257 , , .816 , , 2.4 , , 6.5 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 10.9 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" , New York , 6 , , 2 , , 11.5 , , .357 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , 1.7 , , 2.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.3 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" ,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 69 , , 3 , , 20.8 , , .431 , , .421 , , .810 , , 1.4 , , 3.2 , , 1.0 , , 0.1 , , 8.4 , - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" ,

, 65 , , 0 , , 15.2 , , .414 , , .308 , , .819 , , 1.0 , , 2.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 6.5 , - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 11 , , 0 , , 11.7 , , .423 , , .429 , , 1.000 , , 1.1 , , 1.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" , 1989–90† , align="left" ,

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 46 , , 0 , , 7.3 , , .506 , , .452 , , .769 , , 0.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 2.3 , - , align="left" , 1990–91 , align="left" ,

, 23 , , 10 , , 17.0 , , .427 , , .333 , , .762 , , 1.6 , , 2.7 , , 0.5 , , 0.1 , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" ,

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 8 , , 0 , , 4.3 , , .364 , , .000 , , .667 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" ,

, 8 , , 0 , , 7.8 , , .381 , , .600 , , 1.000 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 871 , , 364 , , 21.6 , , .472 , , .332 , , .776 , , 1.7 , , 3.6 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 8.9

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1979–80 , align="left" ,

, 9 , , – , , 11.2 , , .405 , , .000 , , .600 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.0 , , 4.7 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" , 1980–81† , align="left" ,

, 16 , , – , , 14.3 , , .477 , , .000 , , .833 , , 1.6 , , 1.6 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 5.8 , - , align="left" , 1981–82 , align="left" ,

, 12 , , – , , 25.8 , , .409 , , .000 , , .686 , , 2.1 , , 4.0 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 8.3 , - , align="left" , 1982–83 , align="left" ,

, 7 , , – , , 26.7 , , .412 , , .000 , , .857 , , 2.0 , , 4.4 , , 1.6 , , 0.1 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" , 1983–84† , align="left" ,

, style="background:#cfecec;", 23* , , – , , 26.8 , , .485 , , .273 , , .720 , , 2.3 , , 4.2 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 12.5 , - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" ,

, 3 , , 0 , , 23.0 , , .400 , , .286 , , .333 , , 2.3 , , 1.7 , , 0.7 , , 0.0 , , 8.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" , 1989–90† , align="left" ,

, 8 , , 0 , , 2.4 , , .200 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , - , align="left" , 1990–91 , align="left" ,

, 10 , , 1 , , 4.0 , , .250 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.1 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 0.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 88 , , 1 , , 17.8 , , .443 , , .156 , , .697 , , 1.6 , , 2.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 7.2

References

External links

Where Are They Now?: Gerald Henderson
@ basketball-reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Gerald 1956 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Richmond, Virginia Boston Celtics players Detroit Pistons players Houston Rockets players Milwaukee Bucks players New York Knicks players Basketball players from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia 76ers players Point guards San Antonio Spurs draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players Shooting guards VCU Rams men's basketball players Western Basketball Association players