Sonja Henning

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American basketball player and attorney (born 1969)

title: "Sonja Henning" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1969-births", "living-people", "all-american-college-women's-basketball-players", "american-expatriate-basketball-people-in-sweden", "american-women-lawyers", "american-women's-basketball-players", "basketball-players-from-portland,-oregon", "california-lawyers", "duke-university-school-of-law-alumni", "houston-comets-players", "indiana-fever-players", "basketball-players-at-the-1991-pan-american-games", "medalists-at-the-1991-pan-american-games", "pan-american-games-bronze-medalists-for-the-united-states-in-basketball", "oregon-lawyers", "parade-high-school-all-americans-(girls'-basketball)", "point-guards", "portland-power-players", "san-jose-lasers-players", "school-board-members-in-oregon", "seattle-storm-players", "basketball-players-from-racine,-wisconsin", "stanford-cardinal-women's-basketball-players", "women's-national-basketball-association-executives", "william-horlick-high-school-alumni", "united-states-women's-national-basketball-team-players", "goodwill-games-gold-medalists", "goodwill-games-medalists-in-basketball", "competitors-at-the-1990-goodwill-games", "20th-century-american-sportswomen"] description: "American basketball player and attorney (born 1969)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonja_Henning" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American basketball player and attorney (born 1969) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox basketball biography"]

FieldValue
nameSonja Henning
number3
height_ft5
height_in8
birth_date
nationalityAmerican
high_schoolHorlick
(Racine, Wisconsin)
collegeStanford (1988–1991)
draft_year1999
draft_round2
draft_pick12
draft_teamHouston Comets
draft_leagueWNBA
years1
team1Houston Comets
years2–
team2Seattle Storm
years3
team3Houston Comets
years4
team4Washington Mystics
years5
team5Indiana Fever
::

| name = Sonja Henning | image = | image_size = | caption = | number = 3 | position = | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 8 | league = | team = | birth_date = | birth_place = | nationality = American | high_school = Horlick (Racine, Wisconsin) | college = Stanford (1988–1991) | draft_year = 1999 | draft_round = 2 | draft_pick = 12 | draft_team = Houston Comets | draft_league = WNBA | career_start = | career_end = | career_position = | career_number = | years1 = | team1 = Houston Comets | years2 = – | team2 = Seattle Storm | years3 = | team3 = Houston Comets | years4 = | team4 = Washington Mystics | years5 = | team5 = Indiana Fever | highlights =

Sonja L. Henning (born October 4, 1969) is an American attorney and former collegiate and professional women's basketball player. Born in Jackson, Tennessee, she grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, where she attended Horlick High School.

While at Horlick, Henning earned 12 varsity letters in tennis, track and field, and most notably basketball as a 4-year starter at guard. Henning lead the Racine Horlick Rebels to 2 WIAA basketball tournament appearances, including the championship game in 1987 (her senior year). At the end of Henning's prep basketball career in 1987, Sonja became the state of Wisconsin's all-time leading scorer with 2,236 points, a two-time, first-team, all-state selection, and was chosen to be the 1987 Wisconsin Miss Basketball.

College career

Henning attended Stanford University and played for its women's basketball team from 1987 to 1991. She helped the Cardinal win the 1990 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship game, defeating Auburn University Tigers 88–81 with 21 points and nine rebounds. The following year, Henning was named Pac-10 Player of the Year and a Kodak All-American in her senior season.

Professional career

After graduating from Stanford in 1991, there were few opportunities for women to play professional basketball in the United States at the time, so Henning started her professional career playing in a women's professional basketball team in Sweden in 1992.

In 1996, the American Basketball League (ABL) was formed, and Henning tried out for a playing spot on a team in the new league. Henning was eventually drafted by the San Jose Lasers, a team which also featured former Stanford players Jennifer Azzi, Anita Kaplan, and Val Whiting. She played for the Lasers for two seasons, then joined the Portland Power until financial difficulties led to the ABL's demise in 1998.

Henning joined the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) after being selected in the second round (24th overall pick) by the Houston Comets during its 1999 WNBA draft and helped the Comets to its third straight WNBA championship season. During that same year, she also served as the president of the WNBA Players Union.

During the 2000 expansion draft on December 15, 1999, Henning was selected by the Seattle Storm. Henning played with the team from 2000 to part of the 2002 season until she was traded back to the Comets.

After the 2002 season ended, she became a free agent, and signed a contract with the Washington Mystics on May 5, 2003, but was waived by the team three weeks later. In June 2003, Henning signed a contract with the Indiana Fever for the remainder of that season then retired thereafter.

USA Basketball

Henning was a member of the USA Women's U18 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA Americas Championship in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The event was known as the Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament at the time. The event was held in August 1988, when the USA team defeated the host team Brazil by a score of 70–68 to win the championship. Henning sank two free throws with under one second remaining in the game to win the final game and the gold medal.

Henning represented the US at the World Championships held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in July 1990. The team won all eight games, earning the gold medal. Henning scored 2.0 points per game.

Henning again represented the USA at the 1990 Goodwill Games held in Seattle, WA during August 1990; the USA team won the gold medal.

Henning also played with the USA team at the 1991 Pan American Games. The team finished with a record of 4–2, but managed to win the bronze medal. The USA team lost a three-point game to Brazil, then responded with wins over Argentina and Cuba, earning a spot in the medal round. The next game was a rematch against Cuba, and this time the team from Cuba won a five-point game. The USA beat Canada easily to win the bronze. Gordon averaged 3 points per game.

Career statistics

::data[format=table]

*Denotes season in which Henning won an NCAA Championship
::

WNBA

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|1999† | style="text-align:left;"|Houston | 32 || 32 || 24.9 || .444 || .317 || .611 || 2.5 || 2.3 || 1.1 || 0.2 || 0.9 || 4.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"|2000 | style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 32 || 32 || 30.6 || .351 || .379 || .607 || 2.7 || 2.5 || 1.9 || 0.1 || 1.7 || 5.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"|2001 | style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 32 || 28 || 28.2 || .318 || .182 || .514 || 2.2 || 2.9 || 1.6 || 0.2 || 1.3 || 3.4 |- | rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;"|2002 | style="text-align:left;"|Seattle | 8 || 5 || 25.9 || .364 || .000 || .500 || 3.3 || 1.9 || 1.1 || 0.1 || 0.9 || 2.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"|Houston | 23 || 10 || 22.7 || .346 || .250 || .455 || 2.5 || 2.2 || 1.0 || 0.3 || 1.6 || 1.9 |- | rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;"|2003 | style="text-align:left;"|Washington | 1 || 0 || 5.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 0.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"|Indiana | 23 || 1 || 12.6 || .262 || .000 || .250 || 1.1 || 1.3 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 0.6 || 1.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"|Career | style="text-align:left;"|5 years, 4 teams | 151 || 108 || 24.5 || .356 || .278 || .547 || 2.3 || 2.3 || 1.3 || 0.2 || 1.2 || 3.2

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|1999† | style="text-align:left;"|Houston | 6 || 6 || 22.7 || .348 || .111 || .333 || 3.0 || 1.8 || 1.2 || 0.2 || 1.2 || 3.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"|2002 | style="text-align:left;"|Houston | 3 || 3 || 16.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 1.3 || 1.3 || 0.3 || 0.0 || 0.7 || 0.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"|Career | style="text-align:left;"|2 years, 1 team | 9 || 9 || 20.4 || .250 || .091 || .333 || 2.4 || 1.7 || 0.9 || 0.1 || 1.0 || 2.1

College

|- | style="text-align:left;" | 1987–88 | style="text-align:left;" | Stanford |32||-||-||44.2||0.0||75.9||4.3||4.0||1.7||0.1||-||10.8 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1988–89 | style="text-align:left;" | Stanford |30||-||-||49.8||43.2||72.9||4.1||5.7||1.9||0.1||-||10.1 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#ffcc00;"|1989–90* | style="text-align:left;" | Stanford |33||-||-||45.1||25.6||73.8||4.2||6.7||2.3||0.2||-||8.8 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 1990–91 | style="text-align:left;" | Stanford |32||-||-||45.5||38.0||63.1||6.0||7.4||2.8||0.3||-||15.7 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 | Career |127||-||-||46.0||36.4||70.5||4.6||6.0||2.2||0.2||-||11.4

Personal life

An economics major, Henning graduated from Stanford in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Henning enrolled in Duke University Law School in 1992 where she obtained a Juris Doctor in 1995. Shortly after graduating, Henning starting working as an attorney specializing in labor and employment law for the Littler Mendelson law firm in Los Angeles, California.

Henning served as president of the Women's National Basketball Players Association from 2001 to 2003.

After serving two years as general counsel for Lucy.com, a startup Internet company that sells women's sporting apparel, Henning joined the law firm Tonkon Torp LLP, in Portland, Oregon.

Henning is currently vice president of North American League Partnership for Nike.

Henning was a former board member for the Urban League of Portland.

In May 2005, Henning was elected to a seat on the Portland School Board with more than 70 percent of the vote.

References

References

  1. (April 2019). "Top 10 best high school athletes in Wisconsin history profile: Sonja Henning". [[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]].
  2. "Attorney Sonja Henning Gives Up Courtroom For Basketball Court".
  3. (December 2020). "Tara VanDerveer and Stanford women's college basketball: Ranking the 10 best all-time Cardinal players". [[ESPN]].
  4. (March 1991). "College Basketball - L.A. Times Archives". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  5. (May 2015). "Stanford Women's Basketball - All-Americans". [[Stanford Athletics]].
  6. (14 Dec 1996). "Henning Makes It to Court". [[Hartford Courant]].
  7. (21 May 2009). "Where Are They Now? Sonja Henning".
  8. "2000 WNBA Expansion Draft".
  9. (May 21, 2009). "STORM: Where Are They Now? Sonja Henning".
  10. "SECOND WOMEN'S GOODWILL GAMES -- 1990".
  11. "Sonja Henning College Stats". [[Sports-Reference]].
  12. (23 Oct 1996). "Hoop dreams". [[Palo Alto Weekly]].
  13. (7 Jun 1996). "Five Women In Search of Their Hoop Dreams". [[Los Angeles Times]].
  14. Ricketts, Camille. (2004-01-01). "Great Court Awareness".
  15. (Oct 2002). "Conquering the Courts". Oregon State Bar.
  16. (15 July 2022). "This Year's WNBA All-Star Game Featured A Special Jersey Dedicated To Brittney Griner".
  17. (2 Nov 2023). "Nike NBA City Edition Uniforms Honor the Bond Between Court, Community and Culture". [[Nike, Inc.]].
  18. (2009). "The State of Black Oregon". [[Urban League of Portland]].
  19. (July 2005). "Oregon State Bar Bulletin — JULY 2005". Oregon State Bar.
  20. (June 10, 2010). "First Women's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team -- 1988". USA Basketball.
  21. (June 10, 2010). "Eleventh World Championship -- 1990". USA Basketball.
  22. (Feb 20, 2014). "Eleventh Pan American Games -- 1991". USA Basketball.

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