Bakari Akil Hendrix (born May 23, 1977) is a retired American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He was a standout player at

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) () is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, an Italian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the ...

and played professionally in eleven countries. Hendrix, a 6'8"

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

from

St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Vallejo, in the U.S. state of California. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. Background St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School's long history be ...

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to th ...

, played collegiate basketball at Solano Community College (1994 to 1995) and Gonzaga (1995 to 1998). At Gonzaga, Hendrix faced a tough start as he fractured his ankle in his sophomore year - limiting his season to just nine games. However, the next two years Hendrix was named first team All- West Coast Conference as a junior and senior and was the 1998 WCC Player of the Year after averaging 19.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Following the close of his college career, Hendrix was not drafted by the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). Hendrix instead went to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

to play for Türk Telekom B.K. This began a basketball odyssey for Hendrix that led him to play for 14 teams in eleven counties from 1998 to 2009. Hendix played professionally in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, Australia and

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. Hendrix also had stints in the United States with the

Quad City Thunder The Quad City Thunder was a Continental Basketball Association franchise that was based in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. They played in the CBA from the 1987–88 season until the CBA folded in 2001. The Thunder were successful on the c ...

of the Continental Basketball Association (where he was named the league's rookie of the year in 1999) and with the

Huntsville Flight Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

and

Colorado 14ers Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

of the NBA Development League (NBDL). Hendrix played the 2007 season for the

Wellington Saints The Wellington Saints are a New Zealand basketball team based in Wellington. The Saints compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at TSB Bank Arena. Team history The Wellington Saints were founded in 1981. In 1 ...

in New Zealand. During that time, he had a well-reported brawl with

Casey Frank Casey Frank (born October 23, 1977) is an American-New Zealand former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his 17-year career in the New Zealand NBL and Australian NBL. After playing four years of college basketball for Nort ...

of the

Auckland Stars The Auckland Stars were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Stars competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at ASB Stadium. Team history The Auckland Stars, then known as Auckland Metro, were ...

after one of the games. When Hendrix left New Zealand, he left one pair of his size 18 sports shoes behind along with the instruction to "find a kid that needs some shoes". A year later, the shoes were handed to a shy 14-year-old who had moved to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

to study at Scots College, but who could not find shoes large enough to train for basketball; Steven Adams would later become a top international prospect for the NBA.

References