The NBA has a long history of players from Asia. The first player from Asia to play in the NBA was Wataru Misaka, an American-born player who played for the New York Knicks during World War II. He was followed by Yao Ming in 2002 and Zhou Qi in 2016. While there are currently only three players with Asian heritage on NBA rosters, the future looks bright with several promising young prospects making waves overseas and coming into their own as they enter their second or third seasons.
Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz
Jordan Clarkson is a member of the Utah Jazz, who drafted him in 2014. He was born in the United States and stands 6’5″ tall and weighs 205 pounds.
Clarkson played college basketball at Missouri, where he helped lead his team to two Final Four appearances. During his time there, he was named as an All-American twice before being selected by the Washington Wizards with their 46th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
He started off his professional career with Cleveland Cavaliers before moving on to Los Angeles Lakers when they signed him as a free agent after three seasons with Cleveland Cavaliers (2015–2019). In January 2020 he was traded back to Utah Jazz for Wesley Matthews and George Hill
Rui Hachimura, Washington Wizards
Rui Hachimura is a Japanese basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the NBA. He was born on June 30, 1997, in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
Hachimura played for Gonzaga University from 2015 to 2019. He was named First Team All-West Coast Conference in 2017 and 2018 as well as Third Team All-American by the Associated Press in 2018. After his junior season at Gonzaga ended, he declared for the 2019 NBA draft without signing with an agent or hiring an agent while still retaining his college eligibility.
Yuta Watanabe, Toronto Raptors
Yuta Watanabe is a Japanese basketball player who plays for the Toronto Raptors. Since 2019, he has played for the Raptors’ G League affiliate team, Raptors 905. In 2018, he won an NBL Canada Championship with Island Storm and was named Most Valuable Player of that season’s playoffs.
Watanabe was born in Japan, where he played for the Japanese national team at the FIBA U18 European Championships in 2017. He continued playing in Japan until 2018, when he signed with Island Storm of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada). He led his team to a victory over Halifax Hurricanes in the NBL Canada Championship that year and was named Most Valuable Player of that season’s playoffs.
Yao Ming, Houston Rockets
Yao Ming, born in Shanghai, China, is a retired professional basketball player who played for the Houston Rockets from 2002-11. He was selected first overall by the Rockets in the 2002 NBA draft and spent ten seasons with them before retiring due to chronic foot injuries.
During his career, he averaged 13.5 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game while maintaining a 1.9 blocks average over 524 total games played. Yao was named an NBA All-Star four times (2002–04) and won gold medals at both the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and 2008 Beijing Olympics with Team China.
Following his retirement from playing basketball in 2011 due to persistent leg injuries, Yao became vice president of the Chinese Basketball Association until 2012 when he became general manager of Beijing’s basketball club Shanxi Brave Dragons; however he stepped down after one year due to poor performance by Shanxi’s new players under his guidance.
Conclusion
The NBA is the most popular basketball league in the world. It consists of 30 teams that compete against each other during a season that lasts from October to April. The league was founded in 1946, and has since grown to become one of the biggest sports organizations in North America.
