Paul Henare

Who is Paul Henare?

Paul Donald Henare is a New Zealand professional basketball player who is currently the player/coach of the Southland Sharks of the New Zealand National Basketball League.

Henare attended Napier Boys' High School and Utah Valley State College. He was part of the Tall Blacks team multiple times and competed for NZ at the U/16, U/18 and U/20 junior levels. He won two New Zealand NBL championships with the Auckland Stars in 1999 and 2000 and competed in the New Zealand NBL All-Star Game in 2001.

Henare competed for New Zealand at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane and the 2003 FIBA Oceania Championship. He has also competed professionally in Yugoslavia in 2002–03 with OKK Beograd.

He was a part of the inaugural New Zealand Breakers team in 2003 and was a New Zealand Breakers co-captain for the 2004–05 season, before becoming the full-time captain for the 2005–06 season. He also played for the Hawke's Bay Hawks of the New Zealand NBL and Bandırma Banvit of the Turkish Basketball League.

Henare retired from professional basketball at the end of the 2010–11 season. He was honoured by becoming the first Breakers player to have his number retired.