"No bad feelings": Paul Henare opens up on almost becoming a Bullet

• Paul Henare was one of the names on the shortlist to become the new coach of the Brisbane Bullets before Stu Lash was appointed
• He was last ahead coach in the NBL with the NZ Breakers in 2017-18
• Henare says he is very much open to a return to the NBL as a head coach

He was seen by most as the man who could spark a return to former glory for the Brisbane Bullets.

Known as a coach who establishes a strong culture, develops long lasting relationships with players and someone who's also regarded as one of the best tacticians going around by his former coaching colleagues — Paul Henare seemed destined for a return to the NBL for the first time since his stint as an assistant with Melbourne United finished in 2019.

The New Zealand Breakers and Tall Blacks legend was one of the names shortlisted for the previously vacant Bullets head coach position following the departure of Justin Schueller, who he was a deputy to Dean Vickerman with at United for one season in 2018-19. On the final year of his contract in the Japan B League with the Shimane Susanoo Magic, the NBL champion reportedly interviewed strongly with Bullets hierarchy and was prepared to move to Australia in order to be closer to his family.

Instead, the Bullets chose to appoint Senior Basketball Advisor Stu Lash to the position in a decision which shocked the NBL community.

Now Henare, who is spending time with family in New Zealand during the offseason of the B League, has opened up about the process exclusively with basketball.com.au.

"The NBL is one of the best leagues in the world and you look at where it is now compared to where it used to be, it's incredible," Henare said.

"Returning to the NBL as a head coach has always been something I have been open to, so I had a conversation with my agent Geoff McGuire, where we spoke at length about it and then we decided to go for it because we thought it was a good opportunity.

"We had some really good and positive conversations with the people at the Bullets and went through the process. Ultimately they decided to go in a different direction with Stu and I'm sure he'll do a really good job.

"There's no bad feelings towards the Bullets or anything like that, it was a good process and I obviously wish them all the best."

Having last been a head coach in the NBL with the Breakers in the 2017-18 season, Henare said there were a lot of positives to take out of the process despite missing out on the job.

"Sometimes when you've been away from the league for a while, it's also about just letting people and clubs know that you're open to coming back and coaching in the league," he said.

While the decision to not select Henare as the new Bullets coach shocked fans, it was the support from players, coaches and legends of the NBL which showed how highly regarded the former point guard was around the league.

As the journalist for Basketball.com.au who covered the change in mentors for the Bullets, I was contacted by more than 20 people from around the NBL saying Henare was the perfect man for the job. And that support was something the 2006 Commonwealth Games silver medallist said he was extremely grateful for.

He even caught up with current Bullets skipper Mitch Norton in Japan after the Brisbane head coach search had ended.

While he won't be returning to the NBL, Henare is still keeping a close eye on the league and especially on the team he spent almost a decade with in the Breakers, who enter a new era after a change in ownership whose vision is to return to their New Zealand roots, which saw them win four championships from 2011-15.

The man, whose No.32 playing jersey is retired by the Breakers, said the changed were positive for the future of the franchise and believed fellow Kiwi basketball legend Dillon Boucher was the right man to lead them forward.

"It's great to see Dillon back involved, if anyone knows how to take the Breakers forward, it's him," Henare said.

"But I also think it's important to recognise what the previous owners did at the club. Some people may not have agreed with the things they did but they were the ones investing their own money into the Breakers, so I don't think you can really fault them for anything.

"Their time in charge can also be considered a success, I mean, the club went all the way to game five of a grand final series in 2023 and almost beat the Sydney Kings to win another championship in the club's history. That's a pretty good achievement. So, I think it's important people and the fans recognise that."

Now, Henare has bigger things to focus on with another season in the B League ahead as he is rumoured to join Nagasaki Velca as an assistant to another former Breakers coach in Mody Maor — someone he has had a strong relationship with for several years.

While he could not officially confirm or deny where he had signed for his seventh season in Japan, Henare reflected fondly on his time at Shimane after leading the team to three playoff appearances in his four seasons with the club, where he coached Australian Boomers star Nick Kay.

He had previously coached the Kagawa Five Arrows for two seasons before joining Shimane.

"I had an incredible time at Shimane and think we were able to achieve some pretty special things there. Obviously the goal is to always win a championship and while we weren't able to do that, I think getting to the playoffs three out of four seasons was pretty good for a club, which isn't considered to be one of the bigger clubs," he said.

"Shimane is a bit of a regional club, it's kind of hard to get in and out of so it's sometimes hard to recruit players there, especially high profile locals because they tend to go to the bigger clubs.

"I'll always look positively back on my time at Shimane, I really enjoyed the support of the fans and really tried to immerse myself in the culture, which is something that is really important to me."

While he looks back on his time as a coach at the Magic with nothing but positivity, Henare's world came to a crashing halt this past season after the sudden and tragic death of Utsunomiya Brex coach, former Breakers NBL star and someone he considered a brother in Kevin Braswell in February.

"We had a weekend during the season, where we planned to get together, and not just a get together as in a catch up and have a couple of drinks, we were going to catch up, play golf and spend a bit of a weekend hanging out when we had a break," Henare said.

"But then I got a message from his wife saying he had suffered a heart attack. I couldn't believe it.

"He was a brother to me. He was a special person. The biggest quality that made him such a special person was his loyalty. He was always there for you.

"On top of that, as someone from Baltimore, he was just a person who could fit in anywhere with his personality and also his love for the game. As a player and as a coach, he went to different places all over the world and he just fit in everywhere, that's just who he was."

In the most fitting way to pay homage to the memory of Braswell, his Utsunomiya Brex team would go on to win the B League championship.

And Henare has no doubt his brother was watching on.

"In the last game, a player from the other team had a few free throws to give them the lead, and one bounced on every part of the basket and missed and I remember just thinking that was KB," he said.

"But the whole team, the way they remembered KB was just unbelievable. Right from when he was in the hospital after the heart attack, I remember getting there and seeing the owner, the staff and players there.

"Then after he passed, (Braswell's former assistant who stepped into the head coach role) Zico (Coronel) wouldn't sit in the first chair on the bench and had a picture of KB on that seat for the first game after he passed. I thought just for that one game, that was an incredible gesture but they did it for the whole season.

"I can't say enough abut what they did to remember KB and it's just something that was so special and I will remember forever."

While his coaching journey, like any professional coach, has had its ups and downs — Henare said he still has a burning desire to be a head coach again. Whether that's in the NBL, in Japan or somewhere else around the world.