By SHUHEI NOMURA/ Staff Writer
April 20, 2024 at 17:44 JST
National Basketball Association player Yuta Watanabe announced April 20 he will return to Japan next year to play in the professional B. League.
Watanabe, 29, played for the Memphis Grizzlies, which ended its season with a 27-55 record and missed the playoffs.
On his SNS account, Watanabe gave two reasons for his decision. He cited the lack of playing time this season and his sense of having fulfilled a personal pledge to do whatever it took to remain playing in the United States through his 20s.
After graduating from Jinsei Gakuen High School in Kagawa Prefecture, Watanabe spent the next 11 years playing in the United States. He graduated from George Washington University before becoming the second Japanese player to make it to the NBA.
Over six seasons, Watanabe bounced around among a number of teams, including the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns.
He said he would decide which B. League team to sign with in the coming months.
Watanabe helped the Japanese men’s team win a berth to the Paris Olympics to be held this summer.
It was the first time since the Montreal Games in 1976 for Japan to win a basketball berth at an Olympics on its own merit. It competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as host nation.
BASKETBALL/ Japan loses all 5 games at World Cup and places 31st overall
September 10, 2019
Fujii becomes the youngest player to win 5 shogi titles
February 13, 2022
BASKETBALL/ Speed and stamina earn Japan a berth in Paris Olympics
September 3, 2023
BASKETBALL/ Curry in Japan to talk Tokyo Olympics, Rui Hachimura
June 23, 2019
Olympics fans disheartened at decision to bar spectators
July 9, 2021
Stories about memories of cherry blossoms solicited from readers
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series on the death of a Japanese woman that sparked a debate about criminal justice policy in the United States
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Yuta Watanabe, right, hugs an Australian player at the Basketball World Cup held in 2023. (Shuhei Nomura)
