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 overall pick in 2012 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and played his first 6+1⁄2 seasons with the team before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in December 2018.

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.

[3] Henson was a first-team all-state selection and Tampa Bay Coaches Association Player of the Year.

[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.

[15][16] 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.

[24] 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.

[25] 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.