Gerald Henderson Jr. was born into basketball royalty and raised in the shadow of one of the most famous steals in NBA history. His father, Gerald Henderson Sr., was a 13-year NBA veteran who won three championship rings — two with the Boston Celtics (1981, 1984) and one with the Detroit Pistons (1990). He played alongside Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Isiah Thomas, and Joe Dumars. His signature moment: the 1984 NBA Finals against the Lakers, when he stole a James Worthy pass and scored a game-tying layup that forced overtime. The Celtics won the game and the series.
Gerald Jr. was born December 9, 1987, in Caldwell, New Jersey, while his father was playing for the 76ers. Youngest of three children — older brother Jermaine (basketball at Saint Rose) and sister Jade (graduated from Villanova). The father played his son one-on-one in the backyard and never let him win. ‘I beat him that last time when he was in ninth, tenth grade,’ Henderson Sr. said. ‘I played him until I got to the point where I said, I can’t take this punishment no more. He was getting bigger and stronger. That athleticism — that’s something you can’t teach.’
‘I’ve seen that steal hundreds of times,’ Gerald Jr. said of his father’s defining moment. When the 2009 NCAA East Regional was held at Madison Square Garden, the Boston Globe ran a feature: ‘Son is in Forecast.’ Gerald Jr. was asked what he knew about his dad’s era. ‘All he talks about is our shorts and how the guys didn’t used to dunk as much.’
At Episcopal Academy in Merion, Pennsylvania: five-sport phenom. 18.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg as a junior; 25–3 record; state champion. Scratch golfer with all-conference honors. Two-time league champion in high jump and triple jump. His teammate was Wayne Ellington, a future four-year UNC starter. McDonald’s All-American. Won the 2006 McDonald’s dunk contest — the second Duke player to win it (after Ricky Price in 1994). Also won the Naismith Sportsmanship Award. Led the East with 16 points.