Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks is staying involved while rehabbing season-ending injury

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — After suffering a season-ending injury, Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks is finding ways to stay involved off the court. That includes drawing up plays for his teammates.

Hendricks drew up a play to run early in a home game against the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 12. His play design set up John Collins to make a stepback midrange jumper for Utah’s first basket of the game.

“He was sitting over there, and the board was by him, so I sent the first group over, gave him the board, and said, ‘Taylor’s going to draw up the first play for you,’” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “It was fun. It was fun to watch him draw. It was even more fun to watch him explain it.”

Drawing up plays for teammates while watching from the sideline is the last way Hendricks or the Jazz expected his second season in the NBA to unfold.

Hendricks hoped to take a major step forward as a defensive specialist in his sophomore season. Instead, he fractured his right fibula and dislocated his ankle on Oct. 28 in his third game, a 110-102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, when he lost his footing while running down the court and landed awkwardly. Hendricks was wheeled off the floor on a stretcher.

Initially, he didn’t think the noncontact injury was as serious as it appeared.

“I thought I was good because the doctor that came over, he snapped it back into place and I was like: ‘I’m probably straight. I’ll be out for a week or two and then I’m back,’” Hendricks said.

X-rays revealed extensive damage and Hendricks had surgery a few days later. He’s wearing a protective boot and getting around on a scooter at practices and home games these days.

Hendricks isn’t cleared to travel with the Jazz and won’t be until he no longer needs a scooter or crutches, which won’t be until January at the earliest.

Not being able to play again this season was heartbreaking, Hendricks said, after putting in extra work during the offseason to improve his game. In his three games, he averaged 4.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 25.0 minutes.

Hendricks was selected by Utah ninth overall in the 2023 draft and appeared in 40 games as a rookie, making 23 starts and averaging 7.3 points and 4.6 rebounds.

“I was definitely a lot more comfortable on the floor,” Hendricks said. “That’s really why I was so excited to play my second year just 'cause I knew what to expect and I was so much more comfortable.”

Still, he’s tried to keep an optimistic attitude about the grueling rehabilitation ahead. Hendricks said he isn’t feeling antsy to rush through it because he knows he won’t be able to return to the court until next season.

“Just keeping that in mind makes me really take it day by day and really take it slow and not try to rush anything because I’m not trying to rush for a certain date to play again,” Hendricks said.

The Jazz are also taking a cautious approach. Hardy said the ideal return date is training camp ahead of the 2025-26 season, but they don’t want to rush him back and cause more harm.

“There’s no reason to talk about things like summer league right now because with an injury at this level, and how much we value Taylor, it’s about getting it right and getting it 100% right,” Hardy said.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

FILE - Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks (0) is carried off by paramedics after sustaining an injury in the second half during an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, on Oct. 28, 2024, in Dallas. After suffering a gruesome season-ending leg injury, Utah Jazz forward Taylor Henricks is taking an optimistic approach to a lengthy rehab and finding ways to stay involved with the team this season. (AP Photo/Albert Pena, File)

FILE - Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks, left, and Philadelphia 76ers center Adem Bona, right, battle for position under the boards during the second half of an NBA summer league basketball game on July 10, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks (0) blocks the shot of Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, on Oct. 23, 2024, in Salt Lake City. After suffering a gruesome season-ending leg injury, Utah Jazz forward Taylor Henricks is taking an optimistic approach to a lengthy rehab and finding ways to stay involved with the team this season. (AP Photo/Rob Gray, File)

The chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, one the nation's largest insurers, was killed Wednesday in midtown Manhattan in what police described as a targeted attack by a shooter outside a hotel where the company was holding a conference.

The shooter fled on foot into an alleyway and was last seen on an e-bike heading into Central Park. New York City police said the attack on Brian Thompson was planned, but the motive was not yet clear.

Here's what to know:

Police said Thompson was heading to the company's annual investor conference at the New York Hilton Midtown around 6:45 a.m. when a person walked up behind him and shot him multiple times.

Thompson was alone at the time and did not have a security detail, police said.

Officers found Thompson on the ground outside the hotel with gunshot wounds to his back and right calf, according to Joseph Kenny, the police department’s chief of detectives. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 7:12 a.m.

Kenny said the shooter appeared to be a man who was wearing black face mask, black and white sneakers and a “very distinctive” gray backpack.

He arrived outside the hotel about five minutes before Thompson got there, waiting near the building and ignoring others before he approached Thompson from behind.

He began to fire at Thompson, hitting him in the back. The gun then malfunctioned, but he was able to quickly fix the issue and continue firing, Kenny said.

“From watching the video, it does seem that he’s proficient in the use of firearms as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly," Kenny said.

The shooter ran into an alleyway near the hotel and later got onto a e-bike that he took into Central Park.

Kenny said police found a cellphone in the alleyway, but it was unclear if it belonged to the shooter.

Thompson was the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance wing of parent company UnitedHealth Group Inc.

He had worked at the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based company for two decades and led its insurance division since 2021. He was one of the company's highest-paid executives, with a $10.2 million annual compensation package.

Thompson kept a low profile, with UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s CEO Andrew Witty taking on a more public-facing role that included testifying before Congress.

Thompson started his career as a certified public accountant and graduated from the University of Iowa. He lived in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove.

His wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that her husband said some people had been threatening him. She did not have details, but suggested they may have involved issues with insurance coverage.

Maple Grove Police Chief Eric Werner said his department had not received any reports of threats against the executive.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, accompanied by Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, speaks during a news conference at police headquarters, Wednesday Dec. 4, 2024, concerning the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York hotel. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

This combination of images provided by the New York City Police Department shows the suspect sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)

This image provided by the New York City Police Department shows the suspect sought in the the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding an investor conference, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (New York City Police Department via AP)

This undated photo provided by UnitedHealth Group shows UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group via AP)

Members of the New York police crime scene unit pick up cups marking the spots where bullets lie as they investigate the scene outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)