56 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED | SI.COM
Shaquille O’Neal sends regular texts of encouragement.
Russell Westbrook has reached out. Stardom beckons.
It’s just going to be a while before the prodigy can meet
the hype, at least on an NBA stage.
The 17-year-old Henderson is only starting his profes-
sional journey, as part of the G League Ignite, the NBA’s
new talent incubator for players under 19 (i.e., those not
yet eligible for the draft). The 6' 3", 189-pound guard is
a pioneer of sorts—one of the youngest hoop phenoms
ever to turn professional in the U.S., and the first to
make a two-year commitment to the Ignite. He signed
his $1 million contract in May, after his junior year of
high school, and he’s projected to be the top point guard
in the 2023 draft.But Scoot’s not thinking
about any of that right now.
Today, on this late-September
afternoon, all he wants in his
league-assigned apartment
near the Ignite’s training
facility in Walnut Creek, Calif.,
is some decent art. The fully
furnished place has drab white
walls, neutral-colored furni-
ture and framed watercolors
that look like they should be
hanging in a dentist’s office.
“This is wack,” he says, ges-
turing at the framed pieces.
Henderson favors a bolder
look, more inspiring. Some
“crazy artwork” and “cool
words” on the walls, like he
has in his childhood bedroom
in Marietta, Ga. Some family photos. Definitely some
paint. “I like the color red,” he says. “Might get like a
red dresser or something, if they let me have that stuff.
But just a whole bunch of posters, really, to make it more
soothing. Make it more creative.”
When you’re 17 and 2,500 miles from home—far from
your parents and grandparents and the six basketball-
playing siblings who helped shape you—you do whatever
you can to ease the transition.
So, sure, some posters would be nice, but much better
is that CJ, his best friend and the younger of his two older
brothers, will arrive in a few days to be his roommate and
driver, since Scoot doesn’t have his license. His mother,
Crystal, and one of his four sisters, Onyx, are also movingOF ALL-STAR GAMES AND MVP TROPHIES AND ALL THE GLORY THAT COMES
WITH IT. AND HE HAS A CHORUS OF FERVENT BELIEVERS CHEERING HIM ON.
¶ “THE BEST 17-YEAR-OLD I’VE EVER SEEN,” SAYS CELTICS STAR
JAYLEN BROWN. ¶“A PRODIGY,” WHO PLAYS LIKE “A YOUNG
DERRICK ROSE,” SAYS JASON HART, SCOOT’S COACH.
¶ “A GENERATIONAL PLAYER,” SAYS HIS TRAINER, FORMER
NBA SHARPSHOOTER CHUCK PERSON.HAS VISIONS
OF NB A
G REATNE SS,
LIFTOFF
Just 17, Scoot has
already impressed in
Ignite practices with
his absurd jumping
ability, NBA-ready
physique and work
ethic modeled on
Kobe Bryant.