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A view of basketball match. —AFP/File
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Funbashi, Japan: Japan has made enthusiastic plans to become a basketball power house, but the inclusion of star player Rui Hachimura and disagreement with the domestic league means that success is nothing but a Slim Dink.
Once globally, Japan qualified for last year’s Paris Olympics and brought the final silver medal to France to the Group Phase in the Group Phase, which was helped by a handful of NBA -based NBAs, including Los Angeles Lakers.
At home, Domestic B -League is enjoying record attendance and revenue, which is being constructed with new fields and the US has the ambitions of becoming the second best league in the world behind the NBA.
Chairman Shinji Shemada says the B -League’s “compound and direct entertainment” offers some different to Japanese fans.
“For the first time, many people watch the B -League game and say that it is more interesting than football or baseball, and they want to come back,” he told AFP at the B -League plush office in Tokyo.
Shimda says the B -League is already going on a business scale with the leagues in Europe and China and is taking steps to eliminate the gap in court as well.
Teams have signed players with the NBA experience, such as Els Johnson, who played with Kevin Dorint, Kerry Irving and James Horden’s “Big Three” in Brooklyn Net.
Johnson says he did not know anything about the B -League when he was in the NBA, but he would also recommend other players falling below the elite level.
“In terms of guarantee of money and lifestyle, how they go about to ensure everything through the book, it makes the players feel relieved to know that nothing is running,” he said.
The B -League has also invested in local capabilities and brought back the national team star Uttaraba after six season in the NBA last year.
The 30 -year -old, who has never played professionally in Japan before, has confronted the injured, but has re -implemented as a B -League play office approach.
Watnab and Hachimura have two major faces of the Japanese national team, who captured the public’s imagination in the 2023 World Cup in Okinawa for qualifying for the Paris Games.
Japan performed with respect at the Olympics, but three months later, Hachimura threatened to leave the team after a severe attack on Japanese basketball heads.
The 27 -year -old, so far the country’s most successful player, accuses the Japan Basketball Association of having a “first” mentality.
He also created the goal of a barb of head coach Tom Hosha, who got a job after the silver guidance of Japanese women at the Tokyo Olympics of 2021, saying that the US has “not managed globally”.
Hachimura has not yet said whether he will come back and Watnab hopes that relations can be improved.
“For this, to say that in public, a large number of tensions should increase,” said Watnab.
“Lack of communication has become a problem and I hope it can be fixed properly.”
Vatanab fears that communication matters may also be removed from the Domestic League as it is preparing to re-launch as a B-League premiere from the 2026-27 season.
The league plans to introduce a salary cap and increase the number of players abroad allowed in court at any time.
These projects have brought the league into a dispute with the Players Association, who worry that the Japanese players will end in court with less money and time.
Shima insists that changes are necessary to increase the overall level and reduce the quality gap between teams, which gives more interesting games to see the fans.
At such a critical time for Japanese basketball, Watnab is urging everyone to work together.
“I am a little worried about what the fans will think, if it is a Japanese league but there are not many Japanese players in the court,” he said.
“It’s fine for people who want to see high -level basketball, but for those who want to support the players, where a gap begins to appear.” Now a lot of fans are coming to sports but I am worried that if it continues. “
