Jazz's Taylor Hendricks Shares Thoughts on Second Season Pro

While the Utah Jazz's 2024-25 season was nothing short of a rough process to undergo, that status might hold the most true for Taylor Hendricks, who had his sophomore campaign limited to just three games on the year after suffering from a brutal ankle injury to sit him out for the rest of the year.

Of course, missing the entire year is a tough blow for any player, but especially for a second-year player like Hendricks eying the major jump in progression and development he was on the trajectory for.

Yet, even with a turbulent year now in the books, when asking Hendricks during his end-of-season, he still feels things have "been great" during his second season, and ultimately his recovery process back to the floor.

"I would say, towards the beginning, it was a little frustrating. But, I feel like it's been great. I feel like I've been getting a lot better throughout the season," Hendricks said. "I've been watching a lot of teams, as well as our team. I think a lot of it is noticing how my guys play. Noticing what they like, and taking little bits and pieces of their game, adding it to mine, things like that."

It's been a long road back to competition for Hendricks, and one he's still undergoing now. His fractured right fibula and dislocated ankle is far from an overnight process for him to get back to full health, but it still seems the timeline for his return remains on the right track.

"Right now, I'm doing a lot of one-on-O, basketball workouts, basketball drills," Hendricks said. "In the weight room, a lot of explosive stuff. Box jumps, reactive stuff, things like that."

Compared to the level Hendricks was at earlier this season with his recovery, having the inability to travel with the team at first, seeing his elevation to getting on the court with various drills and regaining and building strength in the weight room is a major step in the right direction.

Though, while Hendricks did previously note during a Jazz broadcast toward year's end that his return to 100% was slated for May, the outlook may lie a bit further out than expected.

"I kind of got my months confused a little bit," Hendricks said during his presser. "Maybe I was on the broadcast a little bit nervous. But, by May, I'll be pretty far along, but not 100%. But, I'll be pretty far along... Definitely by July, right along Summer League time, I'll be good, doing five-on-five, full-contract, stuff like that."