Taqwa Pinero's knowledge is its own currency, and he's paying it forward

Taqwa Pinero has had every reason to fold.

From witnessing his mother commit suicide as a 6-year-old child,to losing both of his grandparents and uncle by the time he was 9,to his older sister running away afterward without telling him, toshockingly finding out they shared the same father after believingit was another man for 33 years, to going through two divorces andwinding up completely broke after his retirement from basketball,Pinero’s life has been rife with trauma and abandonment.

Even as recently as last August, Pinero was wrongly fired byFrench pro franchise Élan Béarnais after just three months as theteam’s general manager due to his Islamic faith.

But now, inspired by Kyrie Irving, Ja Morant and Paul George,the 39-year-old senses it’s the appropriate time to open up abouthis mental-health odyssey, and that’s what he did while addressinghis 17U Epic Elite AAU team out of New Jersey in a video thatspread quickly across Twitter and Instagram just a few weeks ago.Sharing his story and the positive message that comes with it ishis purpose right now.

“You can't control what happens to you, but you can control howyou react to it,” Pinero told Basketball News. “I could've followedwhat the statistic says about someone that experiences what Iexperienced, but I decided to see the brighter things with life.The biggest thing death taught me was it took all fear away fromme, and it allowed me to be present and live and understand that itcan happen any day, but I became more alive because of it.”

“A bend in the road is not the end of theroad… unless you fail to make the turn.”â°– Helen Keller pic.twitter.com/YTsXNIOj8C

Back home in New Jersey since last month, Pinero desires toteach both sides of the age spectrum in hoops. Boasting a playingcareer that spans 17 professional seasons across Italy, Russia,Spain, Greece, Turkey, Iran and France, he’s garnered a greaterunderstanding and learned quite a bit.

Having traveled the world, Pinero is convinced that the UnitedStates is behind, and that’s not just in sports. He’s seen peoplein these countries learn the English language as a requirement andgain ground on America in the space of education, mentioning howU.S. curriculums don’t necessitate studying other cultures assternly. One of his examples? China’s academic version of TikTokcalled Douyin, which strays far away from the viral-nature based,entertainment-heavy app Americans use in the States.

On the court, Pinero feels that Europe’s basketball ascensionstarted in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona with The DreamTeam.

“The rest of the world got to see that stage of basketball:Jordan and Magic, everybody together. If you've seen since thattime, that pushed Europe and the rest of the world to improve theirgame," Pinero said. "It started with that. [European] kids startedto believe, 'Okay, I can be a Michael Jordan or a Magic Johnson.'We just felt we were far superior. And year-by-year, these kidsstarted to gain.”

Early and often, Pinero noticed this shift. He recalls competingagainst a young Ricky Rubio in 2009 and seeing Luka Doncic playwith the U18 Real Madrid team before matching up with the parentclub. A few years ago, he watched Victor Wembanyama dazzle with U18Nanterre 92 ahead of his game.

“You see that, shit, the level's a lot higher than high-schoolbasketball,” explained Pinero, who pointed directly at the NBA’srecent stretch of international stars being the cream of thecrop.

He is adamant that the fundamentals of the game are the drivingforce behind Europe’s talent taking over both the league andworldwide. It’s the very reason why, while there are exceptions tothe rule, Pinero has a gripe with “AAU culture.” Falling back onwhat Kobe Bryant alluded to when he retired, the longtime pro isdisheartened with the isolation, force-it, standout nature of thetalent development in America. Though he understands much of it isdue to wanting to earn scholarships and for recruitment purposes,Pinero maintains the gap is closing — and closing fast.

“[What] most teams now are looking for, especially in Europe,[is] continuity. They're looking for players that help the teamwin, and it's not 1-on-1,” Pinero said. “So guys like Manu Ginobiliand those types of players, that's the type of basketball I like toplay. That's why Europe was so good to me, being able to shoot theball. Stretch 4s, that's the name of the game now, 5s are nowshooting.

“You see Victor Wembanyama, he's f—ing 7-foot-3 and you see himshooting the three-point shot and then catching the rebound anddunking it. But his skill level, people don't understand that heworks diligently on his skill level; that's being able to pass theball, left-hand, right-hand. That's the European style... There'sgonna be a European NBA team. It's evident if you saw that AdamSilver has made a contract with the French president (EmmanuelMacron) on developing French basketball. It's coming. It'sinevitable."

Taking it a step further, Pinero envisions internationalprospects taking advantage of the freshly instated NIL aspect ofthe NCAA, which, again, could give the local talent an uphill climbbecause of the development difference.

“The NIL now is about to be a real game-changer in the sensethat these top prospects in Europe that normally sign with a proteam for $1,500 per month or even less for a five-year contract,they can now say, 'Well, shit, I can go get $500,000 in NIL overhere and play in the States for maybe one or two years, get thatexposure, come back to Europe and go in the draft from Europe,’”Pinero proclaimed.

“You've got to think. These [European] kids have been playingwith pros for years. Like, they practice with us. We'll have threeto four young prospects that practice with us as pros, so thesesame kids will come to play college basketball 'cause they get theNIL. I'm gonna go with the well-seasoned European guy [rather] thana young high school kid (if I’m a coach).”

Formerly known as Taquan Dean before finding out about hisfather, Pinero was an All-State star at Neptune High School in NewJersey. One morning in 2001, as a junior participating in SonnyVaccaro’s famed ABCD Camp during the school year, he remembersreceiving a general letter of interest from the LouisvilleCardinals, but nothing substantial. Then, Pinero glanced over atthe television and saw a message across ESPN’s bottom line: RickPitino heading to Louisville.

Pinero’s interest piqued. Having read the well-respected coach’sbooks as an admirer from afar, he knew everything there was to knowabout Pitino’s approach and loved that style of play as adefense-first, up-tempo shooter. So with the letter in his hand,seeing the news, Pinero convinced his guardian to call the numberprinted on the letter to try his luck.

There was one complication: Syracuse was hard on the recruitingtrail too, and later that night, he spoke with an assistant coachwho came to observe practice and told him he’d meet with JimBoeheim and the Orange staff, who’d gotten a verbal commitment fromCarmelo Anthony around the same time.

What followed when Pinero got home, he’ll never forget.

“Boeheim calls. And while I'm on the phone with Boeheim, youhear the beep. I pick up and it's Rick Pitino. I’ve got Boeheim onthe other line,” Pinero chuckled as he recalled the surreal moment.“'Hey, it's Rick Pitino.' I immediately dropped the phone.”

His guardian promptly signaled him to get back on the line, sohe got it together and started listening. While Pitino wasattempting to sell him on the school, Pinero told him he’d alreadymade his mind up to come to Louisville. He didn’t need to lookaround the campus or hear anything else.

“‘I know what I want, and it's to play for you. I know you canget me to that next level,'” Pinero told Pitino, who recruited himbased on Vaccaro’s words. “And he was like, 'I've never had thisdone to me before.’ His players after they left him, they said heprepared them for life. I didn't have a father. I didn't have afather figure. I knew he could fill that role, so I guess I waswise beyond my years.”

From 2002 to 2006 — alongside the likes of Francisco Garcia,Luke Whitehead, Larry O’Bannon, Ellis Myles, Brandon Jenkins andJuan Palacios to name a few — Pinero, Pitino and the Cardinalsachieved great success, making the NCAA Tournament in three of fourseasons. That includes a memorable Final Four run in 2005 thatTaqwa admittedly can finally appreciate.

“When I spoke to the kids, I looked back at it and was like,'Damn, you really never took a chance to just relish in whathappened.' That was special,” said Pinero, sharing that he stays incontact with most of his teammates from the time aside from Garcia,whom he hasn’t spoken to in a few years.

Louisville captured two Conference USA championships beforemoving to the Big East when Pinero was a senior. During that year,he led the squad in scoring and assists. Although the team didn’tmake the big dance that season, he left an indelible mark on theprogram.

To this day, Pinero holds every three-point record in the book(359-for-896, 40.1%), surpassing Cardinals alum DeJuan Wheat as thebest shooter in school history. Despite all that, unlike Wheat,Pinero never made it to the NBA stage.

“You know what, I'm 17 years too late. I say that all the time,”Pinero said with a laugh. “I was in the era of big guards and youdon't shoot that many three-point shots. So yeah, I'd say now withthe NIL and the way they're shooting today, I would fit soperfectly in this style of basketball.”

Not only has Pinero stayed close with Pitino, he’s also forged agreat relationship with Louisville head coach Kenny Payne andathletic director Josh Heird. Following a difficult campaign,Pinero reveals that he’s been working with the two on getting thecurrent squad overseas for a trip that will help them come togetheras one — an aspect of sports that seems amiss at both thecollegiate and professional levels.

“I want to bring them to Spain and introduce them to Real Madridsoccer club where they get to understand the tradition of such aclub like that, that's world-known,” said Pinero, noting that Payneand Heird called the idea brilliant. “Get that culture from there,and then we'll fly to Tenerife and it would be a team-bonding weekwhere you have team-bonding seminars, mental healthpractitioners.

“If you know anything about the All Blacks, they're the all-timewinningest team in sports history, and it's a rugby [team]. Theirculture is bar none the best culture in any sport, any sport teamin the world. It's a structure of, 'Nobody's above the team.' Sothey make the stars sweep the locker room daily. Everybody's doingsomething that doesn't signal that somebody's above the team. Sothese are mostly soccer clubs and European clubs, this is thestructure they have. So with Louisville having such a bad year, Ifelt that's something that would be huge for them to see.”