Paul Henare’s basketball journey has taken him to Olympic Games, World Championships and professional leagues around the world, but on Saturday night it came full circle when the Hawke’s Bay Hawks retired his iconic number 32 jersey during the club’s 50th anniversary celebrations at The Nest, Rodney Green Arenas.
The honour recognises a career that began in Napier and helped shape one of the most successful eras in Hawks history.
Henare first joined the Hawks as a teenager after coming through Napier Boys’ High School, where he was coached by Paul Trass. He would go on to become one of New Zealand’s most accomplished basketballers, representing the Tall Blacks 129 times, competing at two Olympic Games and helping New Zealand achieve its historic fourth-place finish at the 2002 FIBA World Championships.
Despite those achievements, Henare said the recognition from his hometown club held special significance.
“It’s one of the highlights,” he said.
“The Hawks have always been a big part of my life for a very long time. I used to wipe floors back at Centennial Hall, run the canteen with my mum before games and stand in the doorway watching the Hawks in the early ’90s.
“To have the jersey hanging now, it’s for sure up there.”
Henare said his basketball journey was shaped by many people in Hawke’s Bay who gave him opportunities and believed in him from an early age.
“Curtis (Wooten) was coaching at the time and he must have seen something in me and believed in me enough to bring this high school kid along to practice and play with these grown men.”
That belief helped launch a career that would see Henare become one of the country’s premier point guards and a central figure in the Hawks side that captured the 2006 National Basketball League championship.
Reflecting on that title-winning campaign, Henare said the disappointment of falling just short the previous year helped drive the team forward.
“We thought that was going to be the year we won it. To lose it on our home court gave us a bit of a chip on our shoulder.
“I think the experience of losing the year before was also a big part of us winning the following year.”
Former Hawks championship-winning coach Shawn Dennis said Henare was central to the culture that helped transform the Hawks into championship contenders.
“The leadership of both Paora and Paulie was just amazing,” Dennis said.
“We changed the culture of the team, the way we approached practice and game preparation. Straight away, we set a standard and we held everybody to that standard.”
Henare becomes just the third player in Hawks history to have his jersey retired, joining an exclusive group whose contribution to the club has transcended statistics and results.
Hawks Chair Sally Crown said the honour reflected the significant contribution Henare had made on the club and the wider basketball community.
“A jersey retirement is about impact. Few people have shaped Hawks basketball more profoundly than Paul Henare.”
Now coaching professionally in Japan, Henare remains one of Hawke’s Bay’s most influential sporting figures. The retirement of jersey number 32 ensures his contribution to the Hawks will be permanently recognised, honouring a player whose journey began as a basketball-mad kid in Napier and ultimately earned him a place among the legends of the club he has always called home.
Caption: Paul Henare during his Hawks jersey retirement celebrations at Rodney Green Arenas.
