Taylor Hendricks cleared for full participation in Jazz training camp and preseason

As is the case every NBA season on media day, everyone from the Utah Jazz expressed excitement about the upcoming year, the players are all in the “best shape of their life,” and everyone worked on all aspects of their game this summer. Huzzah!

There weren’t very many surprises. But there was one piece of information that was extremely encouraging to hear. Jazz president of basketball operations, Austin Ainge, gave the all-clear on Taylor Hendricks.

“I was almost tearing up, because it’d been so long. Just so grateful to finally be able to move around again and run up and down the court and be tired. And all those emotions, it hit me fast. So, I was tearing up the first couple of times.”

—  Taylor Hendricks on returning to the court

“I was almost tearing up, because it’d been so long,” Hendricks said. “Just so grateful to finally be able to move around again and run up and down the court and be tired. And all those emotions, it hit me fast. So, I was tearing up the first couple of times.”

“Taylor has had, thank goodness, no setbacks in his rehab,” Ainge said. “He’s been playing full court, full, with no restrictions with our guys. We expect him to go full bore. And I’m sure there’ll be some timing and some things getting back into the NBA game, but physically, he looks great, and we’re going to let him go.”

This comes after Hendricks broke his leg and dislocated his ankle in a horrific injury during the third game of the 2024-25 season. So, to hear that Hendricks is expected to be a full participant in training camp and preseason is great news for the team.

It’s safe to expect maybe some minute restrictions or restrictions on back-to-back games, as Hendricks reacclimatizes to the NBA schedule, but other than that he’s ready to go, which is something that has been an emotional journey for Hendricks.

Once he was able to get back on the court, with his teammates, and truly play in a pickup game this summer, it reminded him of what he’d been missing.

“I was almost tearing up, because it’d been so long,” Hendricks said. “Just so grateful to finally be able to move around again and run up and down the court and be tired. And all those emotions, it hit me fast. So, I was tearing up the first couple of times.”

In his rookie year, Hendricks struggled to find his footing in the NBA, but seemed to just start getting comfortable at the end of the season. Then, in those first three games of the 2024-25 season, he looked stronger, quicker, more reactive than before. And just as everyone started to think it could have been a breakout year for the young forward, he suffered the horrific injury.

Now, after missing almost an entire calendar year, he’ll try to get back to where he was.

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