Report: John Henson Receives Apology
Former Tar Heel John Henson got some redemption yesterday when the owner of the Milwaukee area jewelry store apologized that the player had been treated suspiciously by store personnel and then by the police. According to reports from Andrew Wagner of the Associated Press, Thomas Dixon, the jewelry store owner, appeared at the team’s practice facility and apologized.
The store was really concerned about Henson’s car more than his race. A red Chevy Tahoe like Henson’s had been around before. Also the store had been robbed previously and were on edge for that reason. Their reaction was misplaced of course.
Their call to the police mentioned only that the Red Tahoe was back around the store. This explains why the police were more interested in the car than Henson himself. While I speculated that they must have seen his ID, they actually never asked for it.
The Bucks organization did release a statement on the incident which showed that they were concerned for their player. Online pressure and public relations may have caused the jewelry store to move quicker to apologize than they otherwise would have. They were about to caught in a massive wave of bad press that would have cost them business.
Meanwhile, Henson says that he learned a good lesson about the power of social media. In Wagner’s report, Henson says that he chose his Instagram post as a measured way to deal with a rather angry situation.
In this he was right. Henson made no headlines by berating the jewelry store or resisting the cops. The only story was the way the store had handled him and his business.
Henson looks to be a key part of the Milwaukee Bucks in the upcoming season. He just signed a big extension is well placed to play beside Greg Monroe and/or Jabari Parker.