Pierria Henry Prepares EuroLeague Return with Maccabi

Maccabi Tel Aviv is seeking solutions in unexpected places. According to reports from Chema de Lucas and Israeli journalist Moses Barda, the yellow club is close to signing Pierria Henry, a point guard well-versed in EuroLeague basketball but who hasn't played an official game since January 2023. His return would come after serving a suspension that has kept him sidelined for nearly four years.

A suspension ending in January
The last time Henry played was with Baskonia in January 2023. That same month, the Vitoria-based club suspended his contract after FIBA opened an investigation into a doping control from the EuroLeague game against Maccabi on November 3, 2022. He was accused of submitting a false urine sample. In February 2024, FIBA imposed a 48-month suspension, which CAS confirmed in 2025 after rejecting his appeal. The suspension expires in January 2027.

Maccabi in Trouble
The move makes sense given Maccabi's current situation. Head coach Oded Kattash's team sits second-to-last in EuroLeague with a 2-8 record, coming off a 21-point loss in Belgrade and preparing for their debut in Limassol, their new home, against Hapoel. Additionally, they have Iffe Lundberg sidelined on the perimeter. Henry wouldn't be able to play for a few more weeks, but he would be an experienced point guard for the second half of the season.

The point guard who dominated EuroLeague in Vitoria
Henry enjoyed his best years in Vitoria. He was EuroLeague's leading steals leader in 2020 and 2021, won the Liga Endesa championship in the Valencia bubble in 2020, and made the All-EuroLeague team in 2021. In that 2020-21 season, he averaged 10.5 points, 7.3 assists, and 1.7 steals in EuroLeague play. After a year at Fenerbahçe, where he won the Turkish league, and a brief stint with the Houston Rockets, who released him three days after signing him, he returned to Baskonia in 2022. In his final season, he played 13 EuroLeague games before his suspension.