Trying Times for Henderson : Former Titan Star Attempts to Make Golden State Roster

For a split second last season, Kevin Henderson wasn’t sure this was really happening. He had played out so many similar scenarios on so many driveways and blacktop playgrounds, he wasn’t sure.

It was a daydream come true.

Henderson was in the NBA, if only for a 10-day stint. He was in a Golden State Warrior uniform and he was in the Forum. He was also in the game and bringing the ball up the court against a guy with a nice smile and the name “Johnson” on the back of his gold and purple jersey.

And for a minute, Henderson had it all under control.

“It wasn’t the fact I was nervous or nothing,” Henderson said. “It’s just that Magic was out there, so I felt I was gonna have to raise my game to another level because I didn’t want to get embarrassed. You don’t want to give those guys too much respect, because they will embarrass you.

“I just looked him square on and thought, ‘Man, here we go . . . it’s time.’ I made my first shot, too. And Magic was staring me dead in the face.”

But then it happened, and, for that fraction of a second, Henderson wondered if it was just a fantasy after all.

“You have to understand that Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) has always been my favorite player,” he said. “I’ve been watching him play on TV for as long as I can remember. The first time down on defense, they have a play where (the point guard) has to bump the center, and so I had to bump Kareem.

“For a second, I just stopped and thought, ‘I’m bumping Kareem,’ and then I went on through. Now think about it. Just to bump him, not defend him, just bump him. It was phenomenal. I could not believe it. I’d watched Kareem play for so long and there I was out there with him.

“After that, I was feeling a euphoria, man, a real euphoria.”

Kevin Henderson, former Cal State Fullerton star and NBA veteran of 45 minutes--including those precious few against the Lakers--is awaiting the start of a new season . . . if a bit anxiously.

Henderson, 23, is battling for the final spot on the Warrior roster. On Nov. 6, Coach George Karl will give him the best or worst news of his life.

But now, he worries about the action on the floor.

Henderson reverse-pivots around Eric (Sleepy) Floyd as if Floyd is, well, asleep. He screeches to a stop, pops straight up in the air and flicks in a 20-foot jumper that hits nothing but net.

“Too sweet, Kev,” Floyd mutters, shaking his head in a combination of admiration and disappointment.

The Warrior “gold” team erupts into a rousing ovation that echoes off the thousands of empty seats in the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Now, the winning basket of a five-point practice game isn’t always deemed this significant, but this particular victory means that Henderson’s team can take a front-row seat and watch Floyd and the rest of the “blues” gasp through a running drill that Karl affectionately calls “suicides.”

“God, I hate this time of year,” a panting Floyd says, plopping down in a courtside seat after the ordeal. “I can’t wait for the season to start.”

Henderson hopes he will part of the team when it does.

This time two years ago, Henderson was preparing for the beginning of his senior year at Fullerton. He was coming off a first-team all-conference junior season, and there were some experts touting the 6-foot 4-inch left-hander as the West Coast’s best guard.

Henderson broke his right foot on Dec. 22, however, and never really recovered, although he did limp through the Titans’ last seven games. He was drafted in the third round--the 50th player selected overall--by the Cleveland Cavaliers. In training camp, he hurt his left knee.

“The foot wasn’t totally better and because I couldn’t really use my leverage foot, I was compensating by putting too much stress on my left leg,” Henderson said.

Still, he was one of Cleveland’s final cuts.

Henderson signed with the Charleston (W. Va.) Gunners of the Continental Basketball Assn. and averaged 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists and shot 51% from the floor. When Golden State forward Chris Washburn was admitted to a drug rehabilitation program, the Warriors used the roster opening to take a look at Henderson. They signed him to a pair of 10-day contracts in February.

He didn’t play much, but he showed enough promise to get a one-year (nonguaranteed) contract for this season.

“We really didn’t give him a chance last year,” Karl said. “We were involved in a lot of close games we felt we had to win, and he didn’t get the opportunity to get involved much. But we were impressed. He’s definitely a prime-time athlete.”

Karl has had a better look this season. In the Warriors’ first five exhibition games, Henderson has averaged 20 minutes, 9.4 points, 2.4 assists and 2 rebounds.

“He’s really played pretty well in camp,” Karl said. “Lately, he’s playing with the most confidence I’ve seen since we’ve had him. He’s the best athlete we’ve got at guard.

“I can’t tell you he’ll make the team, but it will go down to the last day. He’s going to play in this league sometime, it’s just a matter of when.”

If it’s not this season, at least a couple of Henderson’s teammates will be surprised.

“Kevin’s shooting well and he’s both quick and strong,” Chris Mullin said. “And he’s a really good rebounder for a guard.”

Said Floyd: “He can go to the hole and he can shoot the jumper in this league, no doubt. I wouldn’t want to be the one to make the decision (to cut him).”

On Jan. 3, 1985, midway through Cal State Fullerton’s Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. opener at New Mexico State, Titan Coach George McQuarn called timeout and switched his junior off-guard to the point-guard position.

The Titans were 4-6 before the experiment. With Kevin Henderson at the point, they won 13 of their last 20 games.

McQuarn had resisted making the change because he thought the move would cut down Henderson’s offensive output. Instead, Henderson gave new meaning to the term “point (as in 20-a-game) guard.”

“Without question, that was a turning point for me,” Henderson said. “When I switched, it was a change in my whole game. I became more assertive, and it actually freed me up because I was playing against some shorter people. I was quick enough to stay with them and still able to shoot over them.

“I think my future in this league is at point guard, but I’ve been playing three positions here. I would hope the versatility will be beneficial. It’s got to be a plus in one respect, but it could be a minus because when it comes down to deciding who will be the 12th man, it’ll be primarily a point guard, and it would be easier to win the spot if I’d played it the whole time in training camp.”

Henderson and five-year veteran Lorenzo Romar appear to be the primary candidates for the final spot on the Golden State roster. Veteran Terry Teagle, an off guard who split time with Mullin last season, is still unsigned, which means Henderson’s versatility could be a deciding factor.

“There’s no doubt that without Teagle, Kevin has a little more of an advantage because he’s such a great athlete.” Karl said. “We’ve been playing him in the two (off guard) position as much as the one (point guard), and that’s hurt his progress at the point a little, but I feel confident we could play him at three positions: one, two and three (small forward).”

Henderson played football and baseball--and managed to average 27 points a game for the basketball team--as a senior at Centennial High School. Karl says that would come as no surprise to anyone who watched him practice day after day.

The Warrior coach also thinks Henderson’s potential as a defensive player is nearly limitless. He was able to intimidate a lot of guards in college, but it wasn’t long before Henderson realized that wasn’t going to happen in the NBA.

“Oh man,” he said, shaking his head, “you can’t take no one out of their game here. Shoot. The fact is, I’m just an average defensive player here . . . if that.

“Last year, I tried to box out a big fella (Indiana’s Steve Stipanovich) and he jarred my collarbone with his elbow. It didn’t hurt much at the time, but the next morning, I couldn’t lift my arm. That woke me up to how physical the NBA game is. The bodies are so big and they’re moving so fast.”

Henderson headed straight for the weight room this summer, but Karl isn’t looking for improvement on the bench press. He wants a guard on the bench who can beat the press. Most important, he wants someone who can run the offense intelligently.

“Kevin needs to improve his decision-making,” Karl said, “but it’s tough to teach that stuff. He just needs to play more.”

Henderson, of course, would welcome that chance.

“When I was first here (last season), I was naturally tentative,” he said. “I was just trying to learn the offense. But I’ve been here from Day 1 this season, and now I can let my instincts go off.

“I know where Coach is coming from. Every coach wants you to be the perfect point guard. The point guard has all the responsibilities on him . . . little does anybody know. The three man wants the ball, the two man wants the ball and the center’s got to have the ball. Then if you miss a guy, he might look at you strange. And you have to look for your own (scoring opportunities) at the same time.

“The one thing you can’t allow yourself to do is play tentative. If you do, then it’s over. They’ll send you home for sure.”

Henderson realizes there’s a chance he may get a one-way ticket home to Placentia on Nov. 6. He maintains that he hasn’t given that possibility a lot of thought, but admits he has considered playing in Europe if he is cut.

“To tell you the truth,” he said, “I haven’t allowed myself to divide my thoughts by thinking about not making it. I need to channel all my talent and energies into making it.”

And both, it would seem, are considerable.