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NBA DRAFTJune 25, 2009Gerald HendersonNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK Q. Talk about coming from the lineage of having a father who played in the league and playing for Larry Brown who preaches playing the game the right way. GERALD HENDERSON: Coach Brown is great. I've known him since I was in middle school being from Philadelphia. I'm looking forward to playing for him and learning a lot of things. The workouts I've had with him, he teaches a lot, and I'm looking forward to just learning things from him and definitely being around Michael every day, that will be a great thing for me, being around, really, the best player that's played this game. I'm really looking forward to that. Q. You get to stay in-state now but there are a lot of people in the State of North Carolina that don't like Duke basketball. Is that intimidating? GERALD HENDERSON: No, I probably won't be thinking about that at all. I probably will just worry about the people that are supporting me and you know, it will be a great situation for me. Q. Staying in-state, does it make it easier for you to finish up your degree at Duke? GERALD HENDERSON: I'm sure it will. I plan to go back and finish up my degree. I don't have that many more classes to finish up. You know, just being close and in that vicinity it will definitely help me. Q. Can you talk about what your dad said? GERALD HENDERSON: You know, he just told me I made it. I worked so hard to get to this point, and he just congratulated me and told me I made it, and you know, it's good to hear those words. Q. How has your dad's experience helped you specifically in the last little while, or did he just kind of leave you alone? GERALD HENDERSON: You know, back when he was coming into the NBA, it really wasn't a process like we have to go through nowadays. You know, he probably only had one tryout, and you know, he did a pretty good job and he was a Celtic. It's a little different he's letting me go. He's given me some advice here and there but he's let me go through it and really grow by myself. Q. Can you talk about the strides you've made in your game in the last year that helped to get you this high in the Draft? GERALD HENDERSON: You know, I've worked on my skills and my shooting, my ball handling, my defense. I've worked on all that, but a big thing for me was just really having a bigger ego while I was on the court. Coach K last summer preached to me, that will be the biggest thing for me to really believe I'm a good player. That's the first step to being a good player is believing that you are and that you can be. I took that attitude into the season. Q. Having been a part of North Carolina basketball, even at the collegiate level, have you had a chance to really watch the Bobcats and see how your game might fit in there? What do you think of that team coming? GERALD HENDERSON: I have watched them. Me and Jon Scheyer have a League Pass at home, so I was able to watch that a lot. They had a good team. They are young, and you know, Coach Brown, he really teaches the game, and they play the game right. You know, this upcoming season should be fun. I think, you know, we'll be great. Q. I watched an HBO documentary, the Battle for Tobacco Road; curious how you are looking forward to burying the hatchet with the Tar Heels. GERALD HENDERSON: There are a lot of Carolina guys there but that stuff ends when you get off the court. There goes Tyler right there. Congrats, man. We all play ball and go through the same stuff. It's like a camaraderie and we don't play on the same team but we respect what each of us does, and it's still a great thing. Q. Did you see that HBO documentary? GERALD HENDERSON: I did. Q. What did you think? GERALD HENDERSON: I thought it was pretty cool until they had that little piece at the end where it showed me hitting Tyler. I thought it was pretty good until that point. (Laughter). Q. Speaking of that connection with Tyler, how surreal is it that you two are drafted back-to-back and he just walked by? GERALD HENDERSON: It's pretty funny, actually. You know, me and him actually earlier got off the elevator to get on the bus at the same time. We've been in a few workouts together. We've actually played on the same teams as we've been going through the workouts. It's been pretty cool. Tyler is a great kid and I wish him the best. End of FastScripts |
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