Bakari Hendrix

Bakari Hendrix
Personal information
Born	May 23, 1977 (age 46); Portland, Oregon
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 8+1⁄4 in (2.04 m)
Listed weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school	St. Patrick-St. Vincent; (Vallejo, California)
College	Solano CC (1994–1995); Gonzaga (1995–1998)
NBA draft	1998: undrafted
Playing career	1998–2008
Position	Power forward
Career history
1998–2000	Quad City Thunder (CBA)
2000	Iraklio (Greece)
2000–2001	Besançon BCD (France)
2001–2002	Aurora Basket Jesi (Italy)
2002–2003	Huntsville Flight (D-League)
2004–2005	Seoul Samsung Thunders (South Korea)
2005	Yakima Sun Kings (CBA)
2005	Coca-Cola Tigers (Philippines)
2005–2006	Benfica (Portugal)
2006–2007	Colorado 14ers (D-League)
2007	Wellington Saints (New Zealand)
2007–2008	South Dragons (Australia)
2008	Tebnin (Lebanon)
Career highlights and awards
	WCC Player of the Year (1998); CBA Rookie of the Year (1999);

Bakari Akil Hendrix (born May 23, 1977) is a retired American basketball player. He was a standout player at Gonzaga University and played professionally in eleven countries.

Hendrix, a 6'8" power forward from St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School in Vallejo, California, played collegiate basketball at Solano Community College (1994–95) and Gonzaga (1995–98). At Gonzaga, Hendrix faced a tough start as he fractured his ankle in his sophomore year - limiting his season to just nine games. However, the next two years Hendrix was named first team All-West Coast Conference as a junior and senior and was the 1998 WCC Player of the Year after averaging 19.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.^[1]

Following the close of his college career, Hendrix was not drafted by the National Basketball Association (NBA). Hendrix instead went to Turkey to play for Türk Telekom B.K.. This began a basketball odyssey for Hendrix that led him to play for 14 teams in eleven counties from 1998 to 2009. Hendix played professionally in Greece, France, Italy, South Korea, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia and Lebanon.^[2] Hendrix also had stints in the United States with the Quad City Thunder of the Continental Basketball Association (where he was named the league's rookie of the year in 1999) and with the Huntsville Flight and Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League (NBDL).^[3]

Hendrix played the 2007 season for the Wellington Saints in New Zealand. During that time, he had a well-reported brawl with Casey Frank of the Auckland Stars after one of the games. When Hendrix left New Zealand, he left one pair of his size 18 sports shoes behind along with the instruction to "find a kid that needs some shoes". A year later, the shoes were handed to a shy 14-year-old who had moved to Wellington to study at Scots College, but who could not find shoes large enough to train for basketball; Steven Adams would later become a top international prospect for the NBA.^[4]

References

^ 2009–10 Gonzaga men's basketball media guide. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
^ Ex-Zag Hendrix a hardwood hard-knocks tale, accessed October 7, 2011
^ Bakari Hendrix D-League stats, accessed October 7, 2011
^ Hyslop, Liam (18 May 2016). "Steven Adams' first basketball shoes came via brawling American Bakari Hendrix". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 18 June 2016.

[1] 2009–10 Gonzaga men's basketball media guide. Retrieved October 7, 2011.

[2] Ex-Zag Hendrix a hardwood hard-knocks tale, accessed October 7, 2011

[3] Bakari Hendrix D-League stats, accessed October 7, 2011

[4] Hyslop, Liam (18 May 2016). "Steven Adams' first basketball shoes came via brawling American Bakari Hendrix". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 18 June 2016.

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