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 Henderson in 1983 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1956-01-16)January 16, 1956 (age 69) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Huguenot (Richmond, Virginia) |
| College | VCU (1974–1978) |
| NBA draft | 1978: 3rd round, 64th overall pick |
| Selected by theSan Antonio Spurs | |
| Playing career | 1978–1992 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 43, 15, 7, 12, 10, 9 |
| Career history | |
| 1978–1979 | Tucson Gunners |
| 1979–1984 | Boston Celtics |
| 1984–1986 | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 1986–1987 | New York Knicks |
| 1987–1989 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1989 | Milwaukee Bucks |
| 1989–1991 | Detroit Pistons |
| 1991–1992 | Houston Rockets |
| 1992 | Detroit Pistons |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 7,773 (8.9 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,453 (1.7 rpg) |
| Assists | 3,141 (3.6 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Jerome McKinley "Gerald"Henderson Sr. (born January 16, 1956) is an American former professionalbasketball player. He was acombo guard who had a 13-year career in theNational Basketball Association (NBA) from 1979 until 1992. He played for theBoston Celtics,Seattle SuperSonics,New York Knicks,Philadelphia 76ers,Milwaukee Bucks,Detroit Pistons, andHouston Rockets. Henderson was born inRichmond, Virginia and attendedVirginia Commonwealth University.[1]
Henderson is best known for his steal of aJames Worthy pass to score a game-tying layup in Game 2 of the1984 NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and theLos Angeles Lakers. The Celtics eventually prevailed in overtime. In a post-game interview, Henderson said that "For a minute I could hearJohnny Most going, 'Henderson steals the ball!'", in reference to Most'sfamous call ofJohn Havlicek's steal in the 1965 Eastern Conference finals. Most's actual words were "It goes quickly in now toMagic, 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!"[2]
In the fall of 1984, Henderson was traded to Seattle for the Sonics' first-round pick in 1986, which the Celtics would use to draftLen Bias.[3] 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 ofthat 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'sDanny 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 inBlue Bell, Pennsylvania. Their son,Gerald Henderson Jr. was selected by theCharlotte Bobcats of theNational Basketball Association in the2009 NBA draft. Gerald Jr. played eight NBA seasons for the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets,Portland Trail Blazers, andPhiladelphia 76ers.
In 2012, Henderson was inducted into theVirginia Sports Hall of Fame.
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won anNBA championship | * | Led the league |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | Boston | 76 | 2 | 14.0 | .500 | .333 | .690 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 6.2 |
| 1980–81† | Boston | 82 | 10 | 19.6 | .451 | .063 | .720 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 7.8 |
| 1981–82 | Boston | 82 | 31 | 22.5 | .501 | .167 | .727 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 10.2 |
| 1982–83 | Boston | 82 | 9 | 18.9 | .463 | .188 | .722 | 1.5 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 8.2 |
| 1983–84† | Boston | 78 | 78 | 26.8 | .524 | .351 | .768 | 1.9 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 11.6 |
| 1984–85 | Seattle | 79 | 78 | 33.5 | .479 | .237 | .780 | 2.4 | 7.1 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 13.4 |
| 1985–86 | Seattle | 82 | 82 | 31.3 | .482 | .346 | .830 | 2.3 | 5.9 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 13.1 |
| 1986–87 | Seattle | 6 | 6 | 25.8 | .500 | .000 | .944 | 1.5 | 5.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 11.2 |
| 1986–87 | New York | 68 | 53 | 27.8 | .438 | .257 | .816 | 2.4 | 6.5 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 10.9 |
| 1987–88 | New York | 6 | 2 | 11.5 | .357 | .500 | 1.000 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| 1987–88 | Philadelphia | 69 | 3 | 20.8 | .431 | .421 | .810 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 8.4 |
| 1988–89 | Philadelphia | 65 | 0 | 15.2 | .414 | .308 | .819 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 6.5 |
| 1989–90 | Milwaukee | 11 | 0 | 11.7 | .423 | .429 | 1.000 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 2.5 |
| 1989–90† | Detroit | 46 | 0 | 7.3 | .506 | .452 | .769 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| 1990–91 | Detroit | 23 | 10 | 17.0 | .427 | .333 | .762 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 5.3 |
| 1991–92 | Houston | 8 | 0 | 4.3 | .364 | .000 | .667 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 |
| 1991–92 | Detroit | 8 | 0 | 7.8 | .381 | .600 | 1.000 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Career | 871 | 364 | 21.6 | .472 | .332 | .776 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 8.9 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–80 | Boston | 9 | – | 11.2 | .405 | .000 | .600 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 4.7 |
| 1980–81† | Boston | 16 | – | 14.3 | .477 | .000 | .833 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 5.8 |
| 1981–82 | Boston | 12 | – | 25.8 | .409 | .000 | .686 | 2.1 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 8.3 |
| 1982–83 | Boston | 7 | – | 26.7 | .412 | .000 | .857 | 2.0 | 4.4 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 10.9 |
| 1983–84† | Boston | 23* | – | 26.8 | .485 | .273 | .720 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 12.5 |
| 1988–89 | Philadelphia | 3 | 0 | 23.0 | .400 | .286 | .333 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 8.0 |
| 1989–90† | Detroit | 8 | 0 | 2.4 | .200 | .000 | .000 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| 1990–91 | Detroit | 10 | 1 | 4.0 | .250 | .000 | .000 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| Career | 88 | 1 | 17.8 | .443 | .156 | .697 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 7.2 | |