May 8, 2021
Toronto Raptors forward Yuta Watanabe ended up on the wrong end of a viral moment when Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards dunked on him during a game in February.
Photos and videos of Watanabe hopelessly coming up short in his attempt to stop the dunk made their way across social media, including the Instagram feed of actor and basketball fan Kevin Hart, who shared a photo of the dunk with his 100-million-plus followers, saying: “This defender has to be thrown out of the league immediately….there’s no coming back from this.”
But Watanabe is still here, and in his third NBA season he has captured the imagination of basketball fans in Japan, his home country, while earning a rotation spot with the Raptors.
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Mary Holt-USA TODAY Sports
The set-up was perfect it was a national holiday in Japan. All the NBA hoop heads in the Land of Rising Sun anticipated watching the league’s only two Japanese players, Yuta Watanabe and Rui Hachimura, go toe-to-toe.
But Watanabe’s left ankle sprain prevented him from suiting up with the Raptors against his countryman, as Toronto squashed the Washington Wizards 137-115.
The second half of the NBA schedule is TBD and there may be another opportunity for Japanese fans to witness last night’s highly-anticipated match-up.
What remains certain is Watanabe will continue to gain Raptors’ adoration from Japanese fans. According to Sports Illustrated, 46% of all jersey sales on Japan’s online NBA store have come from Watanabe and Hachimura, and Yuta’s hustle has helped Toronto sell the most merchandise.
Dec 18, 2020
The Washington Wizards broke new ground on June 20, 2019, when they picked Rui Hachimura at No. 9 in the 2019 NBA Draft the first time a Japanese player had ever been chosen in the top 10.
One day later, when Japanese media outlets swarmed the U.S. capital for Hachimura’s introductory news conference, Wizards officials began to realize the impact of his arrival would stretch far beyond Capital One Arena.
The unprecedented interest in Hachimura’s selection led the Wizards to do something no other NBA team before them had attempted: A full-court Japanese-language marketing press, including the creation of a new localized Twitter account.