The problem is, the Tall Black and New Zealand Breakers swingman has had to settle for making an impact from the bench.
And even with the Wellington Saints, the talented 26-year-old has had to play more of a supporting role. But that is all set to change after his decision to play for the Otago Nuggets next season.
The chance to play 35-plus minutes a game and have the ball in his hands more often was a large part of the attraction in the move south. It is a chance to shine.
"I'm really excited," Henry told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
"I will be taking up more of a leading role instead of a role-playing role as I did for the Saints.
"We have a lot of local talent down there and it is about helping them in any way I can."
Henry will join Tall Black team-mates Mark Dickel and BJ Anthony at the Nuggets in what is shaping as a pretty competitive roster.
None of it would have been possible without Dickel. The moment the classy point guard, who grew up in Dunedin, signed with the Nuggets, he went to work convincing his Tall Black team-mates to join him.
"Mark was the one that was in our ear every day," Henry said.
"He is from down there and he kept saying as a kid he used to go watch the Nuggets and he told us he wanted to bring them back. We were like, you know what, why not?"
Henry and Anthony talked about the move together but the decisions were made separately.
"It wasn't really a package deal. They had approached BJ before me and it wasn't until midway through the Tall Black series that Mark Dickel said BJ was positive of coming ... and he pretty much put it out there for me. He said, `Why don't we go down there and be the core of the team?' "
While the news was greeted with warm enthusiasm by the Nuggets' long-suffering fans, Henry's decision was not well received in Wellington.
Saints boss Nick Mills slammed the decision, telling The Dominion Post the news "came as a major shock".
"He hasn't even spoken to us," Mills said.
"We basically picked him up from Auckland when no-one else wanted to know about him, when he was a kid."
Henry said he felt "personally hurt" by the outburst and said Mills was not entirely accurate in his view.
Henry joined the Saints five years ago but was close to inking a deal with Auckland and was also talking to Waikato when the Saints came up with a better offer.
"When the article came out I was pretty hurt, especially after spending five long years there and helping win two titles."
Henry grew up in Auckland and honed his skills on the basketball courts around Mangere. He made age-group representative teams and started getting serious about the sport at Mt Albert Grammar. He spent a year in the United States at the College of Southern Idaho and signed with the Saints when he returned.
He helped the Saints to back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011 and signed a short-term contract with the Breakers last year, to fill in for Kirk Penney while the ace shooter was in the US.
He was upgraded to a full contract this season after some strong performances for the Breakers development team in China and with the Tall Blacks at the Stankovic Cup.
Henry (2m tall) will bring an all-round game to the Nuggets.
He is a useful rebounder and athletic defender, and has a sweet outside shot. He is quite an acquisition and, along with Dickel and Anthony, could turn the Nuggets into a serious playoff contender.
However, he moved to dampen expectations when asked how he thought the Nuggets would perform next season.
"We won't be able to get a real understanding until we get our imports signed. But there is a rumour there may be another signing. I'm not sure who that will be ... but it is another Kiwi."
With the Australian league overlapping with the New Zealand league, the Nuggets will be without their Breakers pair for the opening rounds and even longer if the Breakers reach the finals series, as they did last year.
The "Penney-less" Breakers have made a good start with three wins on the road.
"The two weeks leading into the season, the Aussie media was saying we were going to be nothing without Kirk Penney," Henry said.
"But that whole process has just helped keep a smile on our face. It is great. We are back in the underdog position and we're just going to keep doing what we know we can do."
