Scoot Henderson, Toumani Camara and their secret dream for the Trail Blazers

New York Times

14-02-2025

PORTLAND, Ore. — Behind the scenes with the Trail Blazers, there has been a recurring conversation between Scoot Henderson and Toumani Camara that previously has been kept to themselves.
'I haven't told anybody this …' Henderson started.
Since their rookie year last season, the two have become more than just the foundation of the Blazers' future. They have become the best of friends. And in the moments when they just hang and dream, they keep coming back to the same vision.
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Leading Portland to a championship.
'Me and Tou, we have told each other: 'We are going to do this. We are going to be great together … and we are going to do it here, in Portland,'' Henderson said. 'We haven't told anyone, but we have those conversations.'
Added Camara: 'We've said that more than once. More than once. We keep saying, 'We are going to figure it out — the hard way.' That's something that has stuck with us.'
Amassing talent is the primary skill in building a championship contender, and the Blazers (23-32) are a long way from having the depth or quality to contend. But with Henderson and Camara, they believe they have worthy cornerstones. That they have become united and aligned with their vision only helps the process.
'The fact that they want to do it here and do it together, it's kind of rare nowadays,' coach Chauncey Billups said. 'It seems like everybody is looking for their own deal, their own path, their own city, whatever, whatever. So the fact that those guys have taken great pride in saying, 'I love it here, I want to do it here, we are going to do it here … that's a big deal. And you can see it with the passion both of them play with.'
In a fitting reflection of their trajectory, Henderson and Camara were selected to Friday's Rising Stars Game as part of the NBA's All-Star Weekend. As they both left the locker room Wednesday night in Denver and headed for a private jet to San Francisco, it was with mixed feelings.
They wanted to showcase their talent and connection in the game, but Henderson will not play because of a sprained right ankle. Still, he will be on the bench.
'Knowing I will have my teammate, one of my closest friends with me, it makes the scenario easier to digest, and will help me play more confidently,' Camara said.
Said Henderson: 'It makes me so mad not to play, just because I wanted to be out there with Toumani. I wanted to be alongside him and throw lobs. That's all I was going to do — shoot 3s and throw lobs.'
They first met as rookies at Trail Blazers training camp in Santa Barbara, Calif. Camara said he was in a blur after being traded by Phoenix days earlier, and Henderson said he couldn't remember his first impression because his head was spinning with learning the new system.
But by the time the week was over, each had made a subtle impression on the other. Henderson noticed Camara was tough and didn't back down to anybody. Camara took note that Henderson was intense and demonstrative on the court, but calm and humble off it.
'I love Tou's dawg mentality,' Henderson said. 'If you a dawg, you've already got my heart, you've got my love. So I just respect that from Tou right from the jump.'
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Said Camara: 'I had heard a lot about him, but I had never seen him play, and at first he was really quiet, and humble, but then as soon as we played, he had this aggressiveness and intensity, and I was really impressed.'
The Blazers coaches look at their growing friendship and nod as if to say, 'It figures.'
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'They're cut from the same cloth in a lot of ways, so it's not surprising that they would have a bond,' assistant Chris Fleming said. 'They have similar values.'
Soon, they were visiting each other's homes, sharing rides to the airport, going clothes shopping on the road, and having rematches in video games.
'I think it's something that came really naturally. The way we talk with each other … joke with each other … it's hard to say how it happened,' Camara said. 'There wasn't a moment where we determined — that's my guy — it was more just something that evolved.'
Besides the camaraderie, both saw value in building a connection with a teammate.
'His willingness to hang out outside of basketball and spend time together has created this environment that is more familiar, where it's not just like a job,' Camara said. 'It's like we are trying to get to know each other to get somewhere bigger. I think that's huge for a young team like us, to keep building chemistry and keep growing that relationship on and off the court.'
Billups said he didn't know the extent of Henderson and Camara's friendship off the court, but he could detect a special connection watching them on the court.
'I definitely sensed them getting closer, because I could see them together a little more,' Billups said. 'But then on the floor, they started establishing a really good chemistry together. I thought there's certain passes that Scoot makes to Tou that he doesn't complete to other guys, and that's just connection, just kind of knowing each other.'
Friday's Rising Stars Game was supposed to be their stage, where they could play off their friendship, their connection. But with Henderson's ankle injury pushing him to the sideline, they will instead focus on the bigger picture. The picture they have dreamed about: Camara and Henderson bringing Portland back to relevancy.
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'It would mean the world to me,' Camara said. 'And I feel like it's something that we are very capable of doing. Especially because of the care we have for each other, and the work we've put in. Even in a one-year span I think we have made a lot of progress and we still have another half season almost. I'm very much looking forward to the things we can do here in Portland.'
With Camara, a 6-foot-8 forward who leads the league in charges drawn, they have a defensive force to build around. And with Henderson, a jitterbug point guard with a linebacker's body, they have a leader whose work ethic continues to enhance his game.
Together, they have weathered one of the worst seasons in Blazers history — last year's 21-win campaign that included two losses by 60 or more — a part of their journey upon which they don't wince, but rather embrace.
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'We always joke that we are the hard-way twins,' Henderson said. 'Nothing was given to us, nothing has been easy. Our first year wasn't easy at all, but we still fought. That goes back to Toumani being a dawg.'
Camara said they talk about the hard times because it will make it all the sweeter when he and Henderson lead the Blazers back. It's their dream, it's their drive, it's their once-secret goal.
'I feel like it's us wanting to thrive,' Camara said. 'Me and Scoot are guys who are never satisfied with the situation we are in. We are always going to want more, always going to try to reach the top. And I really feel he is somebody I can do that with. I have so much trust and love for Scoot.'
Added Henderson: 'We have nowhere to go but up.'