You Tube Gold: Gerald Henderson’s Moment Of Greatness
No, not that Gerald Henderson...his dad.
Gerald Henderson, Jr. was a really popular player while at Duke. Perhaps his greatest play was at Maryland when he was mad and pulled off an incredibly aggressive dunk. Or maybe it was when he saved Duke from an upset at the hands of Stephen Curry and Davidson.
Whatever it might have been, Henderson arguably never topped his father’s greatest basketball play.
Gerald Henderson Sr. played at VCU in college and then, after being drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, ended up with the Boston Celtics from 1979-1984.
By 1984, the Celtics had been rebuilt around Larry Bird and got to the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
And in Game 2, with time running down in regulation, Magic Johnson passed the ball into James Worthy, who then tried a cross-court pass to Byron Scott. Henderson darted in front of Scott to pick off the pass and then made a layup over Worthy, who was about a half-foot taller.
The play put the game in overtime and the Celtics eventually won, going on to win the series 4-3.
In an echo of his earlier legendary call of John Havlicek picking off a key pass in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston radio legend Johnny Most screamed ”It’s picked off! It goes to Henderson! He lays it up and in! It’s all tied up!”
Henderson would have a long NBA career, but he never topped that moment.