John Henson (basketball)

John Allen Henson (born December 28, 1990) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels, where he was a two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year.[1] Henson was selected with the 14th pick in 2012 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and played his first 6 and half seasons with the team before being traded to the Cavaliers in December 2018. In February 2020, he was traded to the Pistons.

John Henson

Henson with the Bucks in 2018
Free agent
Position	Power forward / Center
Personal information
Born	December 28, 1990 Greensboro, North Carolina
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	219 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High school	Sickles (Tampa, Florida)
College	North Carolina (2009–2012)
NBA draft	2012 / Round: 1 / Pick: 14th overall
Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks
Playing career	2012–present
Career history
2012–2018	Milwaukee Bucks
2018–2020	Cleveland Cavaliers
2020	Detroit Pistons
Career highlights and awards
2× ACC Defensive Player of the Year (2011, 2012) First-team All-ACC (2012) Second-team All-ACC (2011) 2x ACC All-Defensive Team (2011, 2012) First-team Parade All-American (2009) McDonald's All-American (2009)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

High school career

For three years, Henson attended Round Rock High School in Round Rock, Texas.[1] His senior year, Henson transferred to Sickles High School in Tampa, Florida. Henson wore the jersey number 33, averaging 17.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 6.1 blocks per game as a senior in 2008–09. He scored a season-high 29 points against Tampa Bay Tech and blocked 10 or more shots five times with a high of 11 on four occasions as a senior as well.[1] Henson led the team to a 24–5 record and a perfect 10–0 league record,[2] but the team lost to Lakeland 48–43 in the regional semi-finals for the Florida FHSAA Class 6A championship.[3] Henson was a first-team all-state selection and Tampa Bay Coaches Association Player of the Year. He played in the McDonald's All-American Game and the Nike Hoop Summit. He also earned first-team Parade All-American honors.[1]

Recruitment

Henson was a highly sought-after forward and was rated by Scout.com as the #1 power forward and the #4 overall player in the 2009 recruiting class.[4] Analysts predicted he would be an important addition to what some thought would be the best front court in the nation for the 2009–10 season. When asked to evaluate Henson, head coach Roy Williams said Henson had "tremendously long arms" and predicted he would "probably block more shots than any perimeter player in college basketball."[5]

College career

Henson with the Tar Heels in November 2011

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Henson began as a small forward for the 2009–10 Tar Heels, but with the season-ending injury to Ed Davis, Henson moved to power forward in mid-February 2010. After the move, Henson's performance improved, and he averaged 9.4 points per game in the last 16 contests of the season.[1] However, the Tar Heels missed the NCAA tournament, losing to the Dayton Flyers in the NIT finals.[6]

As a sophomore in the 2010–11 season, Henson was the winner of the ACC Defensive Player of the Year award for 2011 after averaging 11.7 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game. As a junior in 2011–12, he was again named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 13.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game.[1]

On March 29, 2012, he declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final year of college eligibility.[7]

Professional career

Milwaukee Bucks (2012–2018)

Henson with the Bucks in March 2013, greeting John Wall of the Washington Wizards

On June 28, 2012, Henson was selected with the 14th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks.[8] On July 10, 2012, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Bucks.[9] On April 10, 2013, he had a season-best game with 17 points, 25 rebounds and seven blocks in a 113–103 loss to the Orlando Magic.[10] A week later, he scored a career-high 28 points in a 95–89 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.[11]

On October 19, 2013, the Bucks exercised their third-year team option on Henson's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2014–15 season.[12] In 2013–14, he averaged 11.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game as he came off the bench in 47 of the 70 games he played.

On October 16, 2014, the Bucks exercised their fourth-year team option on Henson's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2015–16 season.[13] Henson played in 67 games for Milwaukee in 2014–15 (11 starts), averaging 7.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He finished fifth in the league for blocks per game with 2.01 and became one of just seven players in Bucks history to average over 2.0 blocks in a single season. Henson blocked at least one shot in 20 straight games from December 26 to February 22, which was the third-longest streak during the 2014–15 season.[14]

On October 2, 2015, Henson signed a four-year, $45 million contract extension with the Bucks.[14][15] On November 6, 2015, in just his second game of the 2015–16 season, Henson scored a season-high 22 points off the bench in a 99–92 win over the New York Knicks.[16]

On October 29, 2016, Henson hit the game-winning buzzer-beater tip-in against the Brooklyn Nets.[17] In 21 minutes off the bench, he recorded 12 rebounds, seven points, three assists, two steals and two blocks in the 110–108 win.[18] On November 27, 2016, he scored a season-high 20 points in 104–96 win over the Orlando Magic.[19]

On February 4, 2018, Henson had season highs with 19 points and 18 rebounds in a 109–94 win over the Brooklyn Nets.[20]

On November 16, 2018, Henson was ruled out for approximately 12 weeks with a torn left wrist ligament.[21][22] He underwent surgery on November 28.[23]

Cleveland Cavaliers (2018–2020)

On December 7, 2018, Henson was traded along with Matthew Dellavedova and the Bucks 2021 first and second round picks to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a five-player, three-team deal. The Cavs also received the Washington Wizards 2022 second round pick. The Bucks received George Hill, Jason Smith and a 2021 second round pick. The Wizards received Sam Dekker. [24]

Detroit Pistons (2020)

On February 6, 2020, the Cavaliers traded Henson, Brandon Knight, and a 2023 second round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Andre Drummond.[25]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2012–13	Milwaukee	63	9	13.1	.482	.000	.533	4.7	.5	.3	.7	6.0
2013–14	Milwaukee	70	23	26.5	.538	.000	.514	7.1	1.6	.6	1.7	11.1
2014–15	Milwaukee	67	11	18.3	.566	–	.569	4.7	.9	.4	2.0	7.0
2015–16	Milwaukee	57	1	16.8	.564	.000	.590	3.9	.9	.3	1.9	7.0
2016–17	Milwaukee	58	39	19.4	.515	.000	.692	5.1	1.0	.5	1.3	6.8
2017–18	Milwaukee	76	69	25.9	.572	.143	.570	6.8	1.5	.6	1.4	8.8
2018–19	Milwaukee	14	0	13.4	.463	.355	.600	5.1	1.0	.5	.8	5.6
2019–20	Cleveland	29	2	14.2	.508	.194	.515	3.9	1.5	.6	1.1	5.0
2019–20	Detroit	11	6	17.1	.667	.400	.462	4.4	1.0	.7	.9	6.9
Career		445	160	19.7	.540	.250	.568	5.3	1.1	.5	1.4	7.6

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2013	Milwaukee	4	0	8.3	.273	.000	–	2.0	.3	.5	.0	1.5
2015	Milwaukee	6	0	25.5	.585	.000	.357	8.0	.7	.8	1.7	8.8
2017	Milwaukee	2	0	6.0	.250	–	1.000	2.0	.0	.5	.0	1.5
2018	Milwaukee	2	2	37.0	.692	–	.500	6.0	2.5	.0	3.5	9.5
Career		14	2	19.4	.536	.000	.412	5.1	.7	.6	1.2	5.8

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2009–10	North Carolina	37	12	15.8	.486	.222	.438	4.4	.9	.7	1.6	5.7
2010–11	North Carolina	37	36	26.7	.500	.167	.482	10.1	.8	.6	3.2	11.7
2011–12	North Carolina	35	34	29.1	.500	–	.511	9.9	1.3	.6	2.9	13.7
Career		109	82	23.8	.497	.208	.484	8.1	1.0	.6	2.5	10.3

Personal life

Henson is the son of Matt and Annette Henson. His father played basketball for Norfolk State University.[1] His sister, Amber, played basketball for Duke University.[26]

Henson is an ambassador for Up2Us Sports, a national non-profit organization dedicated to supporting underserved youth by providing them with coaches trained in positive youth development.[27]

References

1. "John Henson Biography". GoHeels.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
2. "John Henson's (Tampa, FL) High School Basketball Stats". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
3. "2009 Allstate FHSAA Class 6A Boys Basketball Championship". FHSAA.org. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
4. "SCOUT.COM COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM RECRUITING PROSPECTS – 2009". Scout.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
5. "Season Preview: 2009-10 North Carolina Tar Heels". BleacherReport.com. October 17, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
6. "Dayton wins first NIT title since 1968 by stopping UNC's run". ESPN.com. April 1, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
7. "Three UNC stars to enter NBA draft". ESPN.com. March 29, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
8. "John Henson To Bucks With No. 14 Pick In 2012 NBA Draft". HuffingtonPost.com. June 28, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
9. "Bucks sign forward John Henson". ESPN.com. July 10, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
10. "Notebook: Magic 113, Bucks 103". NBA.com. April 10, 2013. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
11. "Rookie John Henson lifts Bucks past Kevin Durant-less Thunder". ESPN.com. April 17, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
12. "Milwaukee Bucks exercise contract options on John Henson and Brandon Knight". InsideHoops.com. October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
13. "BUCKS EXERCISE ROOKIE SCALE CONTRACT OPTIONS ON ANTETOKOUNMPO AND HENSON". NBA.com. October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
14. "BUCKS SIGN HENSON TO CONTRACT EXTENSION". NBA.com. October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
15. Stein, Marc (October 2, 2015). "John Henson agrees to four-year extension with Bucks". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
16. "John Henson 2015-16 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
17. "Henson's tip-in at buzzer leads Bucks past Nets". ESPN.com. October 29, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
18. "Nets vs. Bucks – Box Score". ESPN.com. October 29, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
19. "Henson scores 20 as Bucks beat Magic, 104-96". ESPN.com. November 27, 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
20. "Giannis leaves early, but Bucks rout Nets 109-94". ESPN.com. February 4, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
21. "Medical Updates On John Henson And Donte DiVincenzo". NBA.com. November 16, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
22. Velazquez, Matt (November 16, 2018). "John Henson to have wrist surgery, Donte DiVincenzo to miss at least three games". jsonline.com. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
23. "Medical Update On John Henson". NBA.com. November 28, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
24. "Cavaliers Acquire Matthew Dellavedova, John Henson and Three Future Draft Picks In Three-Team Trade". NBA.com. December 7, 2018. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
25. "Detroit Pistons Acquire Brandon Knight, John Henson And Future Second Round Pick". NBA.com. February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
26. "Amber Henson Bio". GoDuke.com. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
27. "Athletes Giving Back". Sports Illustrated. October 29, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2017.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com or Basketball-Reference.com
• Milwaukee Bucks bio
• North Carolina Tar Heels bio
• Scout.com profile