The play that turned Taylor Hendricks' leg sideways and his life upside down started like any other.
“It was just like a regular play. I was just running back, and I ended up just slipping on a wet spot. Then I picked my leg up and I see my ankle pointed out of the way,” Hendricks said. “It wasn’t really pain. I was just shocked. Like, ‘Yo, this is really happening to me.’”
The shock also might have been clear by some of what went through his head on the court that night, Oct. 28 in Dallas.
“I thought I was good, because the doctor that came over, he snapped it back in place,” Hendricks said. “And I was like, ‘Alright, I’m probably straight. Like, I’ll be out for a week or two, and then I’ll be back.‘”
X-rays, of course, revealed a broken leg, and confirmed the devastating injury outside observers witnessed. With that, Hendricks’ sophomore season was over after just three games.
“To feel like I’m going back to that where — I have to get ready for the next season again, and I was just getting ready for this season — it was kind of heartbreaking," Hendricks said.
Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks (0) is carried off by paramedics after sustaining an injury in the second half during an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Albert Pena)
On Wednesday morning, Hendricks spoke publicly for the first time since that night.
Just under one month removed from the surgery on Nov. 6, the Jazz forward confirmed that he will not return in the 2024-25 season. A return for summer league isn’t in the team’s plans, either, a spokesperson said. Instead, the team hopes Hendricks will be ready to return ahead of the 2025-26 season.
“For me, I’d like to see him back with our team at training camp next year,” head coach Will Hardy said. “Whether that timeline holds will remain to be seen, because we also don’t want to create something for Taylor where there’s a letdown, where he thinks that something’s going to happen in the summer that doesn’t.”
In the interim: a lengthy rehab process. Repairing the broken leg is simple, but Hendricks’ top rehab priority is working on strengthening the ankle mobility that was damaged in the fall. He also hopes to work on strengthening his overall body while he rehabs.
The team wants to keep him connected as much as possible. To wit, Hardy had him draw up a play for the Jazz — their opening half-court possession against the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 12. The play was for John Collins, and ended with a bucket. His teammates have also been dropping by his house and delivering snacks.
One key endpoint in keeping Hendricks engaged: a return to travel for road games. Hendricks can’t currently do that as he motors around on a scooter at home and the Jazz’s practice facility. But the hope is that, by some point in January, he has enough functional mobility to get on the Jazz’s plane and be with his teammates.
“He’s going to have enough moments of isolation. He’s going to have enough moments where the team’s on the court practicing and he’s doing rehab work in the back,” Hardy said. “I think being on the plane, the bus, being around his teammates, in those moments where you’re just one of the guys, you’re just a part of the team — I think it’s really important."
Hendricks' recovery is important to the Jazz because they continue to see him as part of their team’s future. While the sample size was small, Hendricks had impressed coaches and outside observers alike with his play in the team’s preseason and regular season games — he defended with a physicality unmatched by anyone else on the Jazz. After a rookie season that featured long stretches of struggles and G League time, Hendricks had found a foothold.
“Taylor’s physicality stood out, like he was a different athlete physically this season compared to last season. You saw it defensively, absorbing contact, getting through screens, rebounding, and I had the utmost confidence that he would be able to bring that on a night-to-night basis,” Hardy said.
He likely will — just delayed by a calendar year.
“Knowing what I know about Taylor, having watched how he approached this summer — because everything he did this summer was very un-fun as well — I have no doubt that he has the drive to push through it," Hardy said.
