Leon Hofeni Nehemiah Henry (born 14 October 1985) is a New Zealand professional basketball player who last played for the Knox Raiders of the NBL1 South. He debuted in the New Zealand NBL in 2004 and has since won seven championships. He also played five seasons in the Australian NBL, where he was a member of the New Zealand Breakers' 3-peat championship contingent between 2010/11 and 2012/13.
Early life and career
Henry was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand. He attended Mount Albert Grammar School and Avondale College. A rugby league player in his early days, he discovered basketball as a 12-year-old at a holiday camp run by then-Auckland Stars coach Tab Baldwin. Baldwin gave Henry a Tall Blacks trial when he was 18.
Henry debuted in the New Zealand NBL in 2004 with the Harbour Heat. He also played for the Junior Tall Blacks in 2004, helping the team defeat Australia in the final of the Oceania Youth Tournament. Henry scored 25 points in the final and averaged a team-high 19.0 points per game in the tournament.
In 2005, Henry moved to the United States to play basketball for the College of Southern Idaho (CSI). During the 2005–06 U.S. college season, Henry averaged 4.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 29 games for the CSI Golden Eagles.
Professional career
Henry made his return to the New Zealand NBL in 2008 when he joined the Wellington Saints. The Saints reached the championship series in 2008, where they lost 2–0 to the Waikato Pistons. Henry played 10 minutes in game one but saw no court time in game two.
In August 2008, Henry moved to Romania to play for CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca. He joined former Tall Blacks' head coach and childhood mentor Tab Baldwin at the club. In 27 games during the 2008–09 Romanian League season, Henry averaged 4.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.
Upon returning to New Zealand, Henry had a five-game stint with the Wellington Saints to complete the 2009 New Zealand NBL season. He then re-joined the Saints in 2010 and won his first championship, helping the team defeat the Waikato Pistons 2–1 in the finals. Henry had eight points and 11 rebounds in a game one loss; three points and seven rebounds in a game two win; and then seven points and nine rebounds in the title-clinching game three win.
Henry joined the New Zealand Breakers for the first three games of the 2010–11 NBL season as a replacement for Kirk Penney. He lost his spot on the roster when Penney returned from his unsuccessful NBA tilt, but the Breakers had seen enough from Henry to want to keep him around. League rules meant he could return to the roster only if Penney dropped out, so Henry remained with the shadow squad for the rest of what was a championship-winning season.
After helping the Saints win back-to-back titles in 2011, Henry was rewarded with a full-time contract with the Breakers for the 2011–12 NBL season, after Penney's departure to Spain. However, Henry's season debut was delayed until late November due to a stress fracture in his shin. In April 2012, the Breakers defeated the Perth Wildcats 2–1 in the NBL Grand Final series to claim back-to-back championships. In 23 games during the 2011–12 season, Henry averaged 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.
Following the Breakers' championship win, Henry joined the Otago Nuggets for the final six games of their 2012 New Zealand NBL season.
Henry returned to the Breakers for the 2012–13 NBL season, and in April 2013, he was a member of the team's third straight championship. He appeared in 31 of the Breakers' 32 games, averaging 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds per game.
In 2013, Henry played for the Southland Sharks and helped them win the New Zealand NBL championship behind his Final Four MVP performance.
Henry returned to the Sharks in 2014, but only appeared in 10 games after he was suspended by the Sharks on 30 May after he and two other teammates were charged with "assault with intent to injure" following a fight outside a bar in New Plymouth the previous Sunday.
Henry returned to the Australian NBL for the 2014–15 season after he joined the Townsville Crocodiles. He appeared in all 28 games for the Crocodiles, averaging 5.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. After returning to the Wellington Saints for the 2015 New Zealand NBL season, Henry re-joined the Crocodiles for the 2015–16 season. He once again appeared in all 28 games, and in what was his final season in the Australian NBL, he averaged 4.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.