Sterling "Scoot" Henderson (born February 3, 2004) is an 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 for the Portland Trail Blazers of 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). He played for

Carlton J. Kell High School Carlton J. Kell High School is a public high school in the Cobb County School District in the US state of Georgia. The school is located in unincorporated Cobb County with a Marietta address, just northwest of Atlanta. The school was founded in 2 ...

in his hometown of

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, where he was a five-star

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. At age 17, Henderson signed with the NBA G League Ignite after graduating early from high school and became the youngest player in

G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

history. In his second season, he was selected as a

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of the G League Next Up Game. Henderson was drafted as the 3rd pick in the 2023 NBA draft by the Blazers.

Early life

Henderson was born in

to Chris and Crystal Henderson. His father is a coach and trainer, and his mother is a healthcare administrator. His parents run the training facility Next Play 360° in Marietta, where they moved from

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead, New York, North Hempstead and Oys ...

shortly before Henderson's birth. He is the second youngest of seven siblings, including three sisters who played

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

basketball, and was nicknamed "Scoot" or "Scoota" because of how he would scoot across the floor as a baby.

High school career

Henderson played basketball for

in Marietta. During his freshman season, he came off the bench and played alongside his brother, C. J., a senior on the team. In February 2020, during his sophomore season, Henderson scored a then career-high 49 points and made the game-winning shot in a 92–91 overtime win over Miller Grove High School in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament. He led Kell to the semifinals and averaged 24 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals per game as a sophomore. Henderson was named Class 5A Player of the Year and first-team 5A All-State by ''

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

''. On January 22, 2021, as a junior, he scored 53 points in a 94–64 win against Osborne High School, breaking the program single-game and career scoring records. Henderson led Kell to the Class 6A state title game, scoring 29 points in a loss to a Wheeler High School team featuring future top prospect Isaiah Collier. He averaged 32 points, seven rebounds, and six assists per game in the season, earning Class 6A Player of the Year and first-team 6A All-State honors from ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution''. He bypassed his senior season to play professionally. In January 2023, Henderson and his sister, Crystal both had their jerseys retired at Kell. The two of them are the top scorers in school history, with Crystal surpassing Henderson's total during her senior season.

Recruiting

Henderson was a consensus five-star

, and

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on athletic recruitment in college football and basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount. The website hosts a large network of team-specific subsites, with each subsite b ...

ranked him as the second-best

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

in the 2021 class. He drew the attention of NCAA Division I programs at camps following his freshman year of high school. He received his first Division I scholarship offer from Ole Miss and held offers from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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and Georgia Tech by his sophomore season. On May 21, 2021, he announced that he would reclassify to the 2021 class and join the NBA G League Ignite, declining offers from

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

and Georgia.

Professional career

NBA G League Ignite (2021–2023)

On May 21, 2021, Henderson signed a two-year, $1 million contract with the NBA G League Ignite, a developmental team affiliated with the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

that began in the previous year. He was sidelined to start the season with a rib injury. On November 17, 2021, Henderson made his debut with eight points and six rebounds in a 115–103 win against the South Bay Lakers. At age 17, he became the youngest player in G League history. In his second game, on November 26, Henderson recorded a career-high 31 points, six rebounds and five assists in a 112–110 loss to the

Santa Cruz Warriors The Santa Cruz Warriors are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Santa Cruz, California, and are affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors play their home games at Kaiser Permanente Arena. Prior to ...

. In February 2022, he was one of four Ignite players to compete in the

Rising Stars Challenge The Rising Stars Challenge is a basketball exhibition game held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) on the Friday before the annual All-Star Game as part of the All-Star Weekend. The current format to be used in 2022 includes first- and ...

at NBA All-Star Weekend, scoring two points for Team Payton in a 50–48 loss to Team Barry. In the 2021–22 season, he played 11 games in the G League Showcase Cup and 10

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

s and averaged 14.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. In October 2022, Henderson represented the Ignite in a pair of exhibition games against Victor Wembanyama, the projected first overall pick, and

Metropolitans 92 Metropolitans 92 is a French professional basketball club that is based in Levallois-Perret, in the Paris metropolitan area. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the highest-tier level in French basketball. The club was established in 200 ...

. In the first game on October 4, he recorded 28 points, nine assists and five rebounds in a 122–115 win. On October 6, he left the second game after suffering a bone bruise in his right knee during the first quarter, as his team lost, 112–106. On November 12, Henderson posted 18 points, a career-high 16 assists and six rebounds in a 125–115 victory over the Santa Cruz Warriors. Four days later, he recorded a season-high 27 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals in a 110–95 win against the Oklahoma City Blue. On November 18, Henderson suffered a nasal fracture and concussion and missed 11 games before returning on December 27. On January 10, 2023, he scored 27 points in a 123–122 win over Capitanes de Ciudad de México. In February, Henderson was named

of Team Scoot in the inaugural G League Next Up Game. He played for Team Jason Terry in the Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend, scoring four points in a loss to Team Joakim. On March 14, it was announced that Henderson would not play in the final five games of the season. He averaged 17.6 points, 6.4 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in 25 appearances.

Portland Trail Blazers (2023–present)

The Portland Trail Blazers selected Henderson with the third overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft. He made his

2023 NBA Summer League The 2023 NBA Summer League (branded as '' NBA 2K24'' Summer League 2023 for sponsorship reasons) was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, ...

debut on July 7 against the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

with 15 points, five rebounds, and six assists. He left the game early due to a shoulder injury and sat out the rest of Summer League. On October 10, Henderson made his preseason debut, putting up seven points, one rebound, and six assists in a 106–66 victory over the New Zealand Breakers. Henderson debuted his first signature shoe during the Blazers' media day. He will be the seventh player in NBA history to wear a signature shoe in their debut game. On October 25, Henderson made his NBA regular-season debut, putting up 11 points and four assists in a 123–111 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. On November 1, Henderson suffered a sprained right ankle and bone bruise against the Detroit Pistons and was sidelined for an unknown amount of time until November 21, where he was assigned to G League affiliate

Rip City Remix The Rip City Remix are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in North Portland, Oregon, and are affiliated with the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association. The team plays home games at the Chile ...

to return to court conditioning. On December 14, Henderson had a career-high 10 assists in a 122–114 loss to the Utah Jazz. On January 14, Henderson put up a career-high 33 points along with nine assists in a 127–116 loss to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. On March 29, Henderson recorded the worst plus-minus in NBA history with a minus-58 in a 142-82 loss to the Miami Heat.

Career statistics

NBA

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Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

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NBA G League

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Off the court

On June 15, 2022, Henderson signed a multi-year endorsement deal with

Puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...

. In 2022, Henderson applied for

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

s on his name and his motto, "Overly Determined to Dominate." In the same year, he launched his own boys' and girls'

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

programs. Henderson starred in '' Shooting Stars'' (2023), where he portrayed

Romeo Travis Romeo Travis (born December 10, 1984) is an American-born naturalized Macedonian professional basketball player who last played for Limoges CSP of the LNB Pro A. He played college basketball for the University of Akron. High school career Travis ...

References

External links

G League Ignite bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Scoot 2004 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Marietta, Georgia Carlton J. Kell High School alumni NBA G League Ignite players Point guards Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players