Chu had looked him in the eyes and told him to stick to rugby after the junior A trials.
While many youngsters would have grappled with their demons of rejection, Winitana bit his bottom lip and quietly made a decision.
"I remember that vividly, not to prove the coach wrong but just to prove that I can do it and that I believed in myself.
"It wasn't about getting back at anybody or anything like that," he says.
With time and persistence, that self-belief propelled the then teenager into the senior team the following year under another coach, Reuben Waihi.
"The next year I not only made the senior team but I also was the captain and scored all those record sort of points, but all that comes from the decision," says Winitana on reflection, impressing the significance of how life is about making choices.
He understands the peer pressure youngsters face today but emphasises once they stop caring about what others say or think is when they become liberated to find a modicum of clarity to follow their instincts, if not their soul.
As far as he's concerned that is the recipe for everyone, no matter what their walk of life.
"Like in the court [as in basketball], if you run the wrong play there are consequences," he says with a chuckle.
"Regardless of what kind of upbringing you've had and what kind of family environment you're brought up in, there were always challenges," he says, mindful people do find inspiration in the way he ended up becoming a Mormon bishop although he came from a family where his father, Barney Winitana, is a senior member of the Mongrel Mob.
"It's about overcoming certain challenges, making decisions under real pressures - and I'm talking here about life pressures, I'm not talking about fourth-quarter basketball pressures."
Winitana says the biggest challenge for him was to surround himself with good friends and people.
"You should have your best interests at heart and to be really concerned about your wellbeing and your welfare, and once you get a group of people around you miracles can happen and you can follow whatever things you want."
For the former Haumoana and Frimley primary school pupil it was rugby and basketball, thanks to his mother, but finding the right people to champion those lifevalues and principles was equally vital.
"My parents were always my strength, my siblings were always close."
He considers himself fortunate to have had the support of people who wanted to see him excel and wanted nothing in return.
"I'm really grateful I had those people around me even though I was in an environment that I wouldn't wish on anyone else."
Frankly Winitana didn't know any different growing up.
"I mean, wherever you grow up is what you are.
"A lot of people say you're a product of your environment and I don't believe that you are.
"I think we're a product of our choices."
Therein lies the Mormon Church and the Church College of New Zealand in Hamilton where playing basketball kept him in the straight and narrow of the shooting lanes in the overwhelming game of life.
As passionate as Winitana was about basketball, his dedication to his religion saw him miss numerous games without a glimmer of regret, including the bronze-medal loss to Germany in the 2002 Fiba World Championship where the Tall Blacks finished fourth.
It was an extremely proud moment for his father who had travelled to Indianapolis to watch his then 25-year-old fulfil lifelong dreams and ambition.
Several opportunities came his way to hone his skills in the United States, including a full scholarship to the University of Wisconsin, but Winitana turned them down for a two-year mission with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
That meant missing out on the chance to represent New Zealand at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
"A mission? What's that?" he recalls the talent scouts had asked.
Winitana recalls Kirk Penney became the recipient of that scholarship the following year.
His absence from the Hawks' line up on Sundays in the recent seasons became more prevalent with him missing six of the 18 games last season, which was already testing the resolve of some texting fans on whether he should retire.
But Winitana remained loyal to his faith and had the backing of his coaches.
"I'm really grateful and it's been an amazing life," he says.
