The Utah Jazz have been emphasizing that this season will be centered on developing their young building blocks like forward Taylor Hendricks, but now he's likely gone for the season.
On Monday night, Hendricks ran down the court toward the baseline, stumbled and awkwardly fell on top of his leg. Without anyone in his vicinity, he broke his right fibula, dislocated his ankle and yelped in disbelief as he saw his foot going one direction and his leg the other.
Several Jazz players had tears in their eyes and covered their heads with towels during an extended break where the medical staff took Hendricks off on a stretcher. They lost to the Mavericks 110-102 and now face a rebuilding season without a defensive centerpiece.
"A bunch of us were visibly rattled. It was really hard to see," Utah coach Will Hardy said Tuesday. "Everybody processes those things differently. Everybody needs to pick each other up at different moments."
After the Jazz chose him at No. 9 in the 2023 draft, Hendricks spent about half his rookie campaign in the G League before breaking into the rotation later in the season. In the first three games this season, Hendricks was in the starting lineup and taking the assignment of guarding the other team's most potent threat, shadowing the likes of Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Ja Morant.
