Henry Gerald Beenders (June 2, 1916 – October 27, 2003) was a Dutch-American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
player.
Early life
Beenders was born in
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
, Netherlands, and migrated to the United States at age eight. He lived in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and
Scotch Plains, New Jersey
Scotch Plains is a township in Union County, New Jersey, United States. The township is located on a ridge in northern- central New Jersey, within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 201 ...
, before moving to
Bridgewater Township, New Jersey
Bridgewater Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is both a regional commercial hub for Central Jersey, Central New Jersey (home to Bridgewater Comm ...
, in the late 1960s."Former Philadelphia Warriors player Hank Beenders dies at 87", ''
Burlington County Times
The ''Burlington County Times'' is a daily newspaper located in Westampton, New Jersey, U.S. The paper, which is part of the Gannett chain of newspapers, covers municipal and county issues in Burlington County, New Jersey as well as local and pr ...
'', October 27, 2003. He attended
North Plainfield High School
North Plainfield High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grade from North Plainfield, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the North Plainfield Scho ...
in
North Plainfield, New Jersey
North Plainfield is a borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. It is located within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 21,936,Hank Beenders Basketball-Reference.com. Accessed September 22, 2007.
Playing career
Beenders played the
center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
position on the 1941 NIT champion
Long Island University
Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...
team, and was team captain during the 1941–42 season under Hall of Fame coach
Clair Bee
Clair Francis Bee (March 2, 1896 – May 20, 1983) was an American basketball coach who led the team at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939, as well as two National Invitation Tournament titles in ...
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%).
The channel was originally l ...
, October 27, 2003. Accessed July 15, 2007. He served with the
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
during World War II. Beenders was one of the first international basketball players in the
Basketball Association of America
The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...
(BAA), which became 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 S ...
(NBA). Beenders averaged 12.3 points in his rookie season with Providence, which was 13th best in the league that season. He played for Providence the following season until he was sold to the
Philadelphia Warriors
The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden St ...
on January 15, 1948. On May 1, 1948, Beenders was traded to the
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
with
Chick Halbert
Charles Pinkney "Chick" Halbert IV (February 27, 1919 – March 4, 2013) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'9" center from West Texas A&M University, Halbert played five seasons (1946–1951) in the Basketball Association of ...
for
Ed Sadowski
Edward Roman Sadowski (January 19, 1931 – November 6, 1993) was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played in all or part of four seasons between and for the Boston Red Sox (1960), Los Angeles Angels (1961–1963) and Atlanta Braves (196 ...
.
Later life
After ending his basketball career, Beenders worked as an international sales representative for a clothing exporting company in New York City for 35 years. He was 87 when he died at the Somerset Medical Center in