Kendal Pinder


Kendal Nathaniel "Tiny" Pinder is a Bahamian former professional basketball player.

College and NBA

Pinder was a fifth-round draft pick in the 1979 NBA Draft being selected by the Atlanta Hawks from the North Carolina State University. While at NC State he and team mate Tony Warren were caught switching price tags on underwear. In response at a match at Duke University sections of the crowd threw underwear at them.

Israel

In 1980 he played in the Israeli Basketball Super League for Hapoel Jerusalem and was the top scorer of the league for season 1979/80.

Finland

In 1985 Pinder was top point scorer in the Korisliiga, the Finland national league.

Australian NBL

While on a tour with the Harlem Globetrotters to Australia he was recruited to play in the Australian NBL. He was a successful player with NBL teams Sydney Supersonics and the Perth Wildcats. At the Wildcats he was club MVP in 1990 and won the NBL Championship in both 1990 and 1991. In all Pinder played 220 NBL matches.
On 4 February 2013, Pinder was named in the Perth Wildcats 30th Anniversary All-Star team.

Personal life

His son, Keanu Pinder, is a professional basketball player who has played nationally for Australia. Keanu played two seasons at the University of Arizona averaging 2.3 points on 11.3 minutes per game.

Sexual assault charges

It was at the Perth Wildcats that his career came to a temporary halt as he faced charges of attempted sexual assault. Pinder in 1992 was convicted by the Western Australian Supreme Court of this offence and was sentenced to 18 months' jail. Having served a prison sentence Pinder briefly restarted his basketball career with the Illawarra Hawks before further legal trouble halted his career. In January 1996 Pinder was sentenced to five years' jail for sexual offences involving a 15-year-old girl. In 2001 Pinder was acquitted in the New South Wales District Court on a charge of raping a 19-year-old woman in October 2000. In 2013, he was arrested on a charge relating to an alleged rape in 1987. He was cleared in August 2016.