When Yuta Watanabe was growing up ten years ago, he will need to have idolized celebrities halfway world wide, players like Kobe Bryant who didn’t appear to be him or talk like him.
Now? He’s the so-called “chosen one” in his native Japan, a piebald basketball player so popular in his homeland that he not only made the Nets the preferred team within the country, but in addition spurs the expansion of the league itself.
It’s a task – and responsibility – that the 6ft 9in back up striker takes seriously.
“Yes, obviously I have never spoken to all of the young guys, but I hope I even have,” Watanabe told The Post.
“After I got here to the US on the age of 18, I said I wanted to be one of the pioneers, and I hope many of our younger guys will follow me seeing my success. And I feel I even have a successful season now; So much of young guys watch me play and I hope they watch me and [say]”I need to be an NBA player.”
At this point, Watanabe proved himself as such. After breaking in as a two-way Grizzlies after which becoming a fan favorite for the past two seasons in Toronto before being fired last summer, Watanabe was Brooklyn GM Sean Marks’ latest discovery.
Watanabe became a key player within the all-star title contender’s rotation and a legitimate threat to the league’s 3-point shooting crown. Whether it is a profession yr he’s had or starring alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving; Watanabe – who married Japanese actress/model/TV presenter Akiko Kuji last yr – went from popular to household icon.
“All of the above,” Japanese NBA.com author Daisuke Sugiura told The Post. “Obviously he’s been playing so well this yr, and I feel fiddling with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons helps quite a bit together with his popularity.
“Basketball is not the preferred sport in Japan, but individuals who prefer it know these guys, especially KD, who just won a gold medal in Tokyo. Plainly Yuta has earned their trust. An unqualified guy who didn’t also have a guaranteed contract is now helping the challenger and even developing chemistry with all these superstars. That is an incredible story. It’s really hard not to root for him.”
Even the player’s coach agreed, Jacque Vaughn is as moved by Watanabe’s story as those outsiders.
“It’s nice to see that,” said Vaughn. “I just think back to after I was a child and my immediate impression was to see what Lakers I hope to be sooner or later. Now you bought kids in Japan considering How can I be the following Yuta Watanabe?
“It gives hope to kids who want to play basketball in Japan and see someone who looks like them and aspire to be; Cool. And to be proud of it and own it, but at the identical time know that he’s within the NBA and quite a bit of people respect that [a] reason, he’s put within the work and deserves to be here.”
Vaughn wasn’t the one basketball-loving kid who grew up idolizing Laker.
Watanabe was born in Kagawa Prefecture and moved to Miki, a small town of about 20,000. While his father, mother and sister Yuki all played skilled football – his mother Kumi even played for the Japan national team – Watanabe will need to have looked to the NBA for inspiration 9,000 miles away, watching Bryant.
His road to the NBA was even longer.
Upon returning to Jinsei Gakuen High School, Watanabe set the unprecedented goal of entering into the NCAA Division 1 program and eventually the NBA. In 2013, he packed up and enrolled in St. Thomas More, Connecticut, where he traded his lonely yr for a full ride to George Washington – the primary Japanese-born player to win a D1 Scholarship.
From the A-10 to the undrawn invitation to the Summer League, from a two-way deal to earning a spot within the Brooklyn rotation, Watanabe has paved the best way for others – resembling Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga (a Japanese left-wing shooter like himself) and plenty of others.
“It wasn’t before [path]Watabe said. “I didn’t even know the way to get to D1. But quite a bit of guys want to come to the US, play basketball at a high level. That is a great sign for Japanese basketball. I get quite a bit of private messages and comments, so it was great to see so many Japanese fans following me and cheering for me; so I just want to proceed a successful season. “
This season has been more successful than the Nets had any right to expect. Signed to a non-guaranteed contract, he’ll appear in Sunday’s game against Oklahoma City, shooting .519 from deep, just 3 points away from qualifying for the league lead.
Greater than technique or tactics, if Watanabe gave young Japanese players something to emulate, it was the sweat of his brow that earned him a spot within the league.
“You may see it in the best way he works,” said Vaughn. “Every single day off, Yuta is there. Every opportunity to improve, Yuta does it. That is how he perceives the property he has taken upon himself that he doesn’t want to pass up this chance. He’s 28 and quite a bit has happened to get to this point and he’s really getting it now.
According to the YouGov Japan Global Fan Study 2022, there are over 19 million NBA fans in Japan. The success of Watanabe (and to some extent native Japanese Rui Hachimura) increased that number.
“The fan base in Japan is growing,” said Watanabe. “Basketball is getting increasingly popular. Baseball is large and soccer can also be huge in Japan; but me and Rui playing within the NBA, it really helps Japanese basketball. League B can also be doing an incredible job. … So basketball has been improving and higher during the last three, 4 years.”
The Nets were the most-watched team on NBA streaming service Rakuten through January 2, with their viewership up 83 percent from last yr, after they were in fourth place without Watanabe. Viewership is 2.5 times higher when Watanabe plays.
Watanabe’s NBA Japan Twitter Highlights collect 20 to 25 times greater than the typical post. Since Recent 12 months’s Eve, he has led the sale of all jerseys on NBAStore.jp, almost five times greater than last season.
“Yuta Watanabe has been one of the preferred NBA players in Japan since being drafted in 2018, but his impact this season, together with the general energy and enthusiasm for the NBA in Japan, has taken his popularity to the following level,” Ramez said. Sheikh, managing director of NBA Asia. “Not only is that this a function of Yuta’s individual success this season, but he plays a key role within the rival team at the highest of the Eastern Conference table.”
Recent surveys show that greater than 30 percent of fans in China and the Philippines consider NBA to be their favorite sport; and the league has long put each nations first. Japan has long had a love affair with baseball; but given the world’s third-largest economy, with $5 trillion, it’s no surprise that the NBA is decided to make an invasion there.
“Basketball and the NBA have gained momentum in Japan, and there is no doubt that having a hometown hero like Yuta inspires fans of our league and the sport,” said Sheikh. “We’re also committed to growing the NBA and expanding the greater basketball ecosystem in Japan.”
Watanabe only helps for this purpose. Sheikh attributed his popularity to a profession yr, fiddling with a rival alongside Durant and Irving, and eventually finding an acceptable home in Brooklyn.
But most of all, fans react to his story.
“There is no query about that,” said Sugiura. “He gave hope to Japanese basketball players. He is just not the fittest guy and was not considered a protracted term prospect. But he’s just working hard and trying to survive within the NBA.
“It is a classic loser story that the Japanese admire. Dreams come true… I feel he deserved much more popularity and fame in Japan, but many kids who love basketball now have a task model. Her name is Yuta Watanabe.