"Without My Family, I Wouldn't Be Where I Am At Today..." Joel Kindred's Journey To Basketball

When a child is born in this world, the first aspect of life that they witness is, family. Whether you’re the youngest or oldest child, the first real connection you have in life is from your family and, more specifically, your mother. A mother is someone who carried you for nine months while also having a unique connection that no one else will ever have in your life. A mother is someone you tend to take care of the most and feel to have a moral obligation to always support and dedicate anything that you do for your mother. Even though at times you may feel annoyed or upset at your mother, you will always have that unique love connection that can’t be found anywhere else. 

When looking at Joel Kindred of the Guelph Nighthawks, the main thing that kept him constantly motivated to not only do the right thing but also work as hard as he could was, to make sure that he always makes his mother and family proud. However, how did the basketball dream all start?

Born in Virginia on January 7, 1991, Joel Kindred was the youngest brother in his family. Growing up, Kindred had three older brothers that loved playing any sport that came across there way. Football, Basketball and Track and Feild were some of the sports Kindred, and his brothers would always play while also spending their spare time playing outside and exploring the woods behind their backyard. Kindred was very close to his brothers as they taught him fundamental rights and wrongs in anything while also playing with them all the time. The Kindred brothers were as tight as glue and continue to have a close relationship with each other. However, his mother was on a whole other level. Growing up, Kindred was raised with just one parent who worked hard to provide for her kids. Kindred’s mother would work night and day while pushing her kids to be the best that they can be. One of the ways that Kindred’s mother was able to instil the importance of hard work and responsibility was through sports. She always encouraged her kids to pursue a sport as it can provide success and a form of income. Due to having four sons while also being a single parent, Kindred’s mother new that she was unable to pay for their college and instead provided them with a good, healthy life and taught them values such as respect, religion, hard work, responsibility, and many more. As a result, Kindred and his three older brothers would trust their mother’s advice and started to pursue any form of sport they loved and, for the most part, stuck with it. 

Throughout Kindred’s childhood, one of the things that was mandatory for him to do was to maintain the importance of religion. Growing up, Kindred was always around his church and practically lived there due to the number of times he would visit. One of the main reasons why he would consistently go to church was due to how involved his family was. His grandmother was a pastor while his mother was apart of the choir. Just like his mother, Kindred’s grandmother was a key part of his life as she always told him to focus on his career and to move past any adversity he may face as it is a test from god. Anytime when Kindred would feel stressed about something, his grandmother would always help him push through with it and eventually help him move past any form of adversity he would face. His grandmother meant the world to him and was one of the main reasons why Kindred wanted to play basketball at the professional level. 

When reflecting on Kindred’s life so far, the most prominent element that constantly reappears is, how close he was with his family. Whether it was playing with his older brothers in the woods or how his mother and grandmother motivated him to be the best he can be while also teaching him essential values, Kindred had a very special bond with his family. The lessons and virtues that he learned through his religion and also from his mother and grandmother helped him become the respectable man he is today. When it came to sports, a huge reason as to why he loved them was due to the number of times his brothers would either play with him or answer certain aspects of sports that Kindred didn’t understand. However, which sport did Kindred enjoy the most?

Growing up, Kindred always loved playing basketball. Whether it was watching it or playing two v two against his brothers, basketball had a different kind of connection for him unlike no other. However, everyone that was close with Kindred all told him that he was better at football and that he should pursue football instead of basketball, which is something that Kindred refused to do. Even though he liked playing football, basketball was different for him as he loved everything about the sport and had dreams of one day reaching the pros. Kindred would work night and day and would use his mother as motivation to always have not just her approval, but also to make her proud. Yet, when it came to certain things about basketball like rules or methods to help enhance his skillset, Kindred’s older brothers would always help him whenever he needed it. Kindred’s brothers helped him gain confidence in himself by always telling him that he will be the best of the best and will eventually make it to the pros. This motivated Kindred as this was one of the most impactful and influential moments of his life. From then on, Kindred would only focus on being the best that he could be and started to take basketball a lot more seriously when he entered high school. 

Kindred attended Garner Magnet high school in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he would take the next step in his basketball career. During his time in high school, basketball wasn’t something rare or unpopular and instead was very popular in his community as it was almost like a brotherhood. Everyone in his school that would play basketball would all help one another and push each other to help reach their potential. As Kindred stated to me, North Carolina was a hoops place where everyone would have each other’s backs and support one another in order to become the best basketball player they can be. However, with North Carolina having arguably one of the most prominent basketball families and talents in the United States, it was very competitive as every student-athlete had the same dream to one day make it to the pros. When it came to Kindred, he would play alongside future all-star point guard in John Wall, who would later become the first pick in the 2010 NBA draft. Kindred played with incredible talent and used his teammates and community to only get better instead of worse. Even though it was at times overwhelming for Kindred, he would always remember all of his teachings early on and remained focused and diligent throughout his high school basketball career. With the love, passion and desire that Kindred had for basketball, he would tend to focus more on basketball and less on school. Even though Kindred still received top-notch grades, when it came down to applying for college in hopes of playing with a division one team, Kindred didn’t have the grades and wasn’t able to join a division 1 school. Although this was upsetting for Kindred, he knew how to deal with any form of adversity, and instead of giving up, he would have to work harder to reach his goals. Surely enough, Kindred would attend a prep school where his high school coach managed to get a job with the same team Kindred would join. 

College Career

Even though Kindred had the ambition to play division 1 college basketball, he would commit to a prep-school called St. Augustines College, where he would miss his freshman year and play the following three years. In his sophomore year, he would average 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal while shooting 43% from the field in just 27 minutes. In his junior year, Kindred averaged similar numbers while also playing slightly fewer minutes. However, in his senior year, he would start every game and averaged 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal a game while playing a career-high 32 minutes. Kindred also averaged an outstanding 48% from the field, and for a guard, that’s very impressive. Due to Kindred solely playing at St. Augustines College, Kindred never played for a division 1 school and instead looked to pursue other professional opportunities across the world. Even though his college career was solid and, at times unexpected, Kindred would continue to be persistent and would always remember what his family would say to him growing up, which is, you will be the best out of all of us. Eventually, Kindred’s hard work would pay off as he got his first-ever opportunity to play professional basketball. 

Professional Career

After his days of college were over, Kindred was invited to the London Lightning training camp where he would look to potentially play with them. However, when he was invited to join their training camp, the Lightning already assembled their team, which meant that Kindred never suited up for them. Instead, Kindred would end up staying in London, where he would go to LA fitness and work for 6 months. Yet one day, Kindred finally got his first opportunity to play for a team in Spain where he would only earn 250 euros a game. At this point in Kindred’s life, he realized that he had to work his way up, which at times was difficult for him. 

In the following year, Kindred would finally be granted his first official team where he would play valuable minutes for an organization. The Halifax Hurricanes signed Kindred, where he started 27 games out of the 52. Kindred would average an astonishing 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal while shooting 46% from the field in just 25 minutes of action. This was the first time in Kindred’s career where he played meaningful minutes and looking at his stats; the Hurricanes made a great decision in trusting Kindred. His impressive stint with the Hurricanes managed to catch the attention of the CEBL, where he would join the Guelph Nighthawks and play just 12 games while averaging 8 points, 4 rebounds, and a steal in just 17 minutes of play. The Nighthawks had a lot of depth at the guard position, hence why Kindred only played 17 minutes. Once the CEBL season passed, Kindred would go back to the Hurricanes, where he would once again be a starting calibre player while averaging similar numbers to his first year with the Hurricanes.