Paul Henare (Ngāti Kahungunu) has recently resigned from his position as Tall Blacks head coach in order to seize an opportunity to coach in Japan.
The announcement was made on the 40-year-old’s basketball academy social media page:
"Our very own Paul Henare has stepped down as head coach of the Tall Blacks for a coaching opportunity in Japan… We congratulate and acknowledge the mahi he has done not just for the Tall Blacks but the entire basketball community in Aotearoa,” the post said.
It's fair to say that Henare left the Tall Blacks better than he found it, recently leading the national side in a relatively successful campaign this year at the FIBA World Championships in China, helping the team to move up 14 spots in the FIBA World Rankings.
Spending nine years as player, and eight as a coach, the five time NZNBL "assist champion" has been a beacon for New Zealand basketball, on and off the court, holding regular basketball camps in his homeland of Hawkes Bay.