Pinder's Indigenous Round Inspiration

Cairns Taipans superstar Keanu Pinder has expressed his aspirations of becoming involved in helping future generations of young Indigenous basketball players make their mark in the NBL.

Pinder was born and raised in Derby, Western Australia among the Nyigina people of the West Kimberley region. His mother, Tracy Smith, is an Indigenous woman whose ancestry weaves through generations of First Nations people.

One of this season’s MVP contenders, Pinder is serving as an inspiration for young Indigenous players, a responsibility he doesn’t take lately.

“It means a lot to me because we can bring light to Indigenous culture in Australia and for other guys who don’t know much about it,” Pinder said.

“Throughout the future it’s going to be a lot stronger coming through, there’s going to be a lot more coming up.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The man, the matrix, the model ????<br><br>Keanu Pinder in this year&#39;s Indigenous Round artwork, courtesy again of Uncle Henry Fourmile ? <a href="https://t.co/TisYSuXQW9">pic.twitter.com/TisYSuXQW9</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1597774794606678016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I hope that I can be involved in the future generations in helping them grow, and basketball in the communities, I hope that I can make a difference.”

The Taipans will host the Brisbane Bullets in their Indigenous Round match-up on Wednesday night, with their jerseys designed by traditional owner of Cairns (Gimuy), Uncle Henry Fourmile.

“It’s nice I like it. Uncle Henry has done a good job with it, I’m proud of him so I’m happy about it,” Pinder said.

The Taipans are fourth with an 8-5 record and go head-to-head with the ninth placed Bullets at 7:30pm AEDT.