Japan has ambitious plans to become a basketball powerhouse, but a row involving star player Rui Hachimura and disagreements over the domestic league’s direction mean success is anything but a slam dunk.
Once a minnow on the world stage, Japan qualified for last year’s Paris Olympics and took eventual silver medalists France to overtime in the group phase, helped by a handful of NBA players including Los Angeles Lakers forward Hachimura.
At home, the domestic B. League is enjoying record attendances and revenue, with new arenas being built and ambitions to become the second-best league in the world behind the US’ NBA.
Photo: Reuters
League chairman Shinji Shimada said the B. League’s “mix of sport and live entertainment” offers Japanese fans something different.
“Lots of people watch a B. League game for the first time and say it’s more interesting than football or baseball, and they want to come back,” he said.
The B. League is already catching up on a business scale with leagues in Europe and China, and is taking steps to close the gap on the court, too, he said.
Teams have signed players with NBA experience such as Alize Johnson, who played alongside the “big three” of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden at the Brooklyn Nets.
Johnson said he knew nothing about the B. League when he was in the NBA, but he would recommend it to other players dropping below the elite level.
“In terms of the money being guaranteed and the lifestyle, how they go about making sure everything is by the book, it makes players feel comfortable knowing there’s not going to be anything fishy going on,” he said.
The B. League has also invested in local talent and last year brought back national team star Yuta Watanabe after six seasons in the NBA.
The 30-year-old, who had never played professionally in Japan before, has struggled with injuries, but he is back in action as the B. League play-offs approach.
Watanabe and Hachimura are the two main faces of Japan’s national team, who captured the public’s imagination at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Okinawa when they qualified for the Paris Games.
Japan performed respectably at the Olympics, but the mood soured three months later when Hachimura threatened to quit the team after a scathing attack on Japanese basketball chiefs.
The 27-year-old, by far the country’s most successful player, accused the Japan Basketball Association of having a “profit-first” mentality.
He also aimed a barb at head coach Tom Hovasse, who got the job after leading Japan’s women to silver at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, saying the American had “not managed at a world level.”
Hachimura has still not said whether he would return, and Watanabe hopes relationships can be mended.
“For him to say that publicly, there must have been a big build-up of stress,” Watanabe said. “The lack of communication became a problem, and I hope that can be fixed properly.”
Watanabe fears that communication issues could also derail the domestic league as it prepares to relaunch as the B. League Premier from the 2026-2027 season.
The league plans to introduce a salary cap and raise the number of overseas players allowed on the court at any one time from two to three.
The plans have brought the league into conflict with the players’ association, who worry that Japanese players would end up with less money and time on the court.
Shimada insists the changes are necessary to raise the overall level and narrow the gap in quality between teams, giving fans more exciting games to watch.
At such a delicate time for Japanese basketball, Watanabe is urging everyone to work together.
“I’m a little worried what fans will think if it’s a Japanese league, but there aren’t many Japanese players on the court,” he said.
“It’s fine for people who want to watch high-level basketball, but for fans who want to support the players, that’s where a gap starts to appear,” he said. “A lot of fans are coming to games now, but I worry if that will continue.”
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
BATTERED AND BRUISED: Alcaraz suffered a cramp in the third set, but was allowed treatment despite Zverev’s protests, and continued on to win in five-and-a-half hours An ailing Carlos Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev yesterday in five epic sets to reach his first Australian Open final and move within a match of becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. The world No. 1 outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5 hours, 27 minutes in hot conditions to head to tomorrow’s title match. He only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp. He was allowed to have treatment
RSS