Pickleballer in the 808: Kento Tamaki
“Pickleballer in the 808” Kento Tanaka-Tamaki, in a social media post after being signed by MLP in 2023. Credit: Major League Pickleball
Kihei, Maui—The Dink, one of the biggest national pickleball publications, published an article in July of 2023: “Meet the Men's Newcomers in MLP Season 2 Draft”. The article was an overview of 10 male players, broken down into three categories: Very Intriguing, Intriguing, and Long Shots.
Second on the list of “Very Intriguing” male players was Kento Tanaka-Tamaki, a local boy, born and raised in Kihei, Maui.
Kento has off-the-charts DUPR ratings (Doubles: 6.36 / Singles: 5.97) so it’s not surprising that a few months after the article was published, he was drafted by MLP.
But the question is…why had I never heard of him before?
It’s because…as high profile of a player as he is, Kento does zero pickleball self-promotion. It’s true—there’s really not much to be found about him online, which explains why he was off radar, even here at home in Hawai’i. So, we (as in all of us) are about to change all that to help spread the word and rally behind our very own Hawai’i grown pickleball pro.
Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Kento Tanaka-Tamaki!
If you’re short on time, jump to a specific part of our conversation:
0:30: merger talk/current status as of mid-Feb 2024
4:20: once the merger goes through he will get drafted
6:00: how do you get to 6.0?
7:33: how he was introduced to PB
10:00: making the leap to going pro
14:45: what is your biggest challenge as a pro
18:13: how long is the season and where will he live during the season
22:27: most memorable PB moment
27:02: heated PB matches
28:40: differences from tennis
30:10: PB etiquette
31:45: advice to younger players wanting to go pro
33:30: mid-Court transition zone (you won’t want to miss this)
44:30: rapid fire questions
46:00 what’s up next for Kento
Follow Kento’s pro pickleball journey and cheer him on:
