Henare’s silence is not so golden

OPINION: Tall Blacks and now former Breakers basketball coach Paul Henare is doing himself, his sport and his many admirers on the Kiwi hoops scene a disservice by diving under the cone of silence around his shock decision to quit the club.

The thousands of Breakers fans out there who have given their time and money to support this team over the years deserve more.

The Kiwi basketball fraternity in general, who rightfully regard Henare as one of the most important and influential figures in the New Zealand game, deserve more.

Heck, even us media types who have faithfully recorded Henare’s views over his years as a player, assistant and now head coach at the Breakers, and with the Tall Blacks, deserve more.

There are questions that need to be answered. Actions that require explaining.

This is professional sport. You don’t just walk away from a highprofile job coaching the nation’s only Australian NBL club and not say why.

With the profile and the paypacket comes a certain responsibility.

Right now Henare is abdicating his.

That said, there is quite possibly a very good reason Henare has elected not to speak to anyone in the media thus far on his bombshell decision to walk away from the Breakers just two years into what everybody presumed was a long-term project.

Maybe Henare, whose retired jersey number hangs in the rafters at Atlas Place in Auckland, cares about the Breakers too much to speak publicly about the real reasons for his departure.

Maybe he figures that by making public the real reasons for his shock exit he will cast a negative light on the club he was a foundation player for, and which he cares about deeply. Maybe.

But, geez, he should at least say something. We’re all owed that.

Let me just throw this into the mix: I am a huge admirer of Henare.

He was a fabulously gritty, hard-nosed, fully committed player who rang every ounce of ability out of himself. And always spoke his mind.

And he has made outstanding progress as a young coach, both of the Breakers and Tall Blacks. He cares, he is passionate, he understands the game, he has a clear philosophy and he is developing as a game manager as he gathers experience.

And, just as he did as a player, he has always spoken with refreshing honesty, transparency and passion about the game and his role in it.

Until now.

Here’s the situation as I understand it: Henare has quit his Breakers role with no replacement job to go to. It is that serious a situation.

He has not been enticed away by a better offer. A job he couldn’t turn down. He just couldn’t continue in this one under the new ownership group headed by Matt Walsh.

My understanding is that communication was poor between the new owners and their coach, and that what was presented to him to continue in the role did not meet Henare’s satisfaction.

There was no back and forth in a search for compromise. No negotiation. And the incumbent head coach took what he perceived to be his only option. He walked away.

Breakers chiefs said yesterday that they had nothing more to say on the matter. That’s their right, I guess.

The whole situation is not a good look for an organisation going through a major structural and ownership change.

It is hard not to see that the first result of the new group taking charge has been the loss of the best coach in New Zealand. Hardly an auspicious start.

The Breakers have done many, many things very well as they have established themselves as Auckland’s, and one of New Zealand’s, most successful pro sports franchise.

This has not been one of them.