Nobody knows which way Taylor Hendricks’ story is going to go.
A horrific injury in the third game of the 2024-25 campaign sidelined the second-year Utah Jazz forward for the rest of the season, upending what could have been a breakout year for the 21-year-old. Whether he can come back from that injury and get back on track, or improve to meet the expectations that made him the No. 9 overall pick in 2023, remains to be seen.
But, at least for now, we know that he is mentally prepared to make his comeback at the start of the 2025-26 season.
Hendricks made an appearance on the Jazz broadcast last week during the team’s game in Indianapolis against the Indiana Pacers and his confidence during that short interview with Jazz broadcasters Craig Bolerjack and Thurl Bailey stood out.
He mentioned the frustration of having to watch 79 games from the sidelines and not being able to check in, knowing that his skillset is something the Jazz are missing — and he’s right. Hendricks’ potential as a rangey and versatile defender who can space the floor is exactly the type of young player the Jazz would love to be developing right now. Instead, Hendricks has been just getting his feet underneath him the past few months.
A broken leg and dislocated ankle are not injuries that should be rehabbed with any sort of urgency, and the Jazz have made sure to bring Hendricks along slowly in his journey. He’s gone from not bearing weight on his right leg, to walking with crutches, to walking and slowly regaining strength in his lower body to now beginning to run again.
What has been expedited is the effort to break Hendricks out of his shell and make him feel like an integral part of the team, despite the inability to play him on the court. And being a forward-facing player with a big voice is something that Hendricks craves.
Doing the interview on the broadcast was just the tip of the iceberg, Hendricks told the Deseret News.
“It’s was fun doing that,” Hendricks said. “And that’s something I kind of want to tap into after my career is over. Because I feel like I’m very personable and it would be fun to talk on broadcasts, talk about the game and stuff like that ... kind of like what they do on TNT — an analyst.”
That’s quite the leap from what has been known about Hendricks up to this point. He was widely considered to be one of the more introverted players on the Jazz roster when his rookie season began, and only just started to open up at the end of last season. Jazz head coach Will Hardy even remarked at the end of last season that Hendricks had “said more in the last five days than I heard for the first five months.”
But Hendricks insists that his seemingly shy demeanor last year was brought on by being thrust into the NBA world and trying to figure out his place on the team and in the league. The newness of the situation made him turn inward in a way that is out of the norm for him.
“I’m a pretty goofy and outgoing guy,” Hendricks said. “My teammates know that and everyone here is getting to know the real me ... I was a young guy coming into a whole new thing. But usually I’m fine. It was just the situation.”
Many would think that the situation this season, with the injury and rehab, could have kept Hendricks from opening up or building on his relationships with his teammates, but the Jazz coaching staff has made sure to keep Hendricks involved in everything.
It’s the kind of opportunity that is not always afforded to injured players. Collin Sexton remembers what it was like when he was sidelined for nearly the entirety of the 2021-22 season after tearing his left meniscus when he was on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“That was something that I missed out, just being around the team,” Sexton said. “I had some lonely nights, some dark, dark days ... I was on the road maybe for two-three games. I wasn’t around at all. I was in in bed for two months straight. I couldn’t put my leg down, so I was just in bed. It was super tough. I feel like that was the toughest time in my career.”
It’s exactly that experience that has bonded Hendricks and Sexton, and Hendricks has tried to pick Sexton’s brain about everything that happened to him during his time sidelined due to injury.
What Hendricks has gleaned from those conversations is that he is in a unique environment that he should be grateful for.
“I’ve talked to Collin a lot about his injury and when he was on the Cavs and how things went with his teammates when he was going through it,” Hendricks said. “It’s completely different in my situation. And he’s happy that I’m around these guys, and I’m able to travel and soak things up be in the family-type environment that’s here.”
That’s why Hendricks feels like he’s been able to be himself and show parts of his personality that he didn’t show much of in his rookie season. He feels how much the players and coaches have tried to make him feel like family and make him feel that his voice matters, even when he’s not on the court.
And even though it doesn’t need to be said, Sexton hopes that Hendricks realizes the fragility and privilege of being an NBA player.
“I always tell him, ‘bro, just soak it all in,‘” Sexton said. “When you’re back on the court, you’re able to feel what it what it was like not being able to play. I feel like you don’t realize how much you love something until it’s taken away.”