5 Best Japanese players to have played in the NBA featuring Rui Hachimura, Yuta Watanabe and more × Create Notifications New User posted their first comment this is comment text Link Approve Reject & ban Delete Log in Manage your profile Editing Story Queue Video Queue Editing Stats Writer Home SEO Redirection Admin Gaming Wiki Edits Taxonomy Home Edit Site Menu Mapping Dashboard Tag Pages Community Social Feed Queue Feed Center Notification Center Affiliate Home Manage Pages Bottom Tagline Dash Timeless Stories Logout Basketball NBA News Listicle Looking at the only Japanese players to have played in the NBA featuring Rui Hachimura Yuta Watanabe and more Toronto Raptors v Washington Wizards Like Like Excited Happy Anxious Angry Sad Comment Share Arhaan Raje ANALYST Follow Modified 04 Oct 2022 The NBA has been graced by talented international players in recent years. A few Japanese players have also left their mark on the league. Basketball is a growing sport in the country, and it won't be long before we see more players from Japan flourish in the NBA in the next few years. Currently, Washington Wizards star Rui Hachimura and Brooklyn Nets' Yuta Watanabe are the only active players from the league who hail from Japan. As per RealGM, three other players from Japan have played in the NBA. Let's take a look at these five players: #1 J R Sakuragi The Vancouver Grizzlies picked J.R. Sakuragi with the 57th pick in the 1998 draft. He played 30 games, averaging 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds during the 1998-99 season. He signed multiple training camp deals: in 1999 with the Grizzlies and in 2000 with the Sacramento Kings. However, he was cut by both franchises before the start of the season. Sakuragi was raised in California and played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. Adam WWWaybright@WaybrightAdamOnly two players from the 1998 NBA Draft were remaining in professional basketball. In the past 24 hours we have seen both careers come to an end.Congrats on retirement JR Sakuragi/Henderson (@JRSakuragi32) and Vince Carter! (@mrvincecarter15)!14047Only two players from the 1998 NBA Draft were remaining in professional basketball. In the past 24 hours we have seen both careers come to an end.Congrats on retirement JR Sakuragi/Henderson (@JRSakuragi32) and Vince Carter! (@mrvincecarter15)! https://t.co/ltdwJ5aBuy Born J.R. Henderson, he changed his name to Sakuragi to become a naturalized citizen of Japan and play for their national team in 2007. #2 Yuta Tabuse Yuta Tabuse was among the shortest players in the NBA at 5'8". He was the first Japanese player to play a regular-season game. The Phoenix Suns gave him his first and only run in the NBA during the 2003-04 season. The Japanese point guard played just four games, averaging 1.7 points per game. Tabuse signed a multi-year deal with Phoenix but got cut within two months of his contract. Arizona Sports History@AZSportsHistory9/7/04 – The Phoenix #Suns signed super-speedy Summer League standout (3.7p and 2.3a) and Japanese-born PG Yuta Tabuse. Yuta was in Dallas' training camp before being cut and Denver in '03 preseason. He signed w/the ABA's Long Beach Jam and averaged 5.3p and 6.3a. #WeAreTheValley1619/7/04 – The Phoenix #Suns signed super-speedy Summer League standout (3.7p and 2.3a) and Japanese-born PG Yuta Tabuse. Yuta was in Dallas' training camp before being cut and Denver in '03 preseason. He signed w/the ABA's Long Beach Jam and averaged 5.3p and 6.3a. #WeAreTheValley https://t.co/6O3qLViEG4 Before signing with the Suns, the Nuggets signed Tabuse to a training camp deal in 2003. The Clippers also availed his services for training camp in 2005. Tabuse played for the Suns during the 2004 Summer League and for the New Jersey Nets in 2008. #3 Nick Fazekas The Dallas Mavericks selected Nick Fazekas with the 34th pick in the 2007 NBA draft. Fazekas played only four games for the Mavericks in the NBA before being assigned to their G-League team. He was waived by the franchise midway through the 2007-08 season. Fazekas got an opportunity with the LA Clippers. He played 22 games for the franchise. The American-born Japanese player averaged 4.1 points and 3.4 rebounds across 26 regular-season games. FIBA Basketball World Cup@FIBAWCPerfect placement on this lovely one-handed, no-look feed from Nick Fazekas! #FIBAWC x #AkatsukiJapan #WinForJapan bit.ly/W4_WatchLive_TW94387Perfect placement on this lovely one-handed, no-look feed from Nick Fazekas! #FIBAWC x #AkatsukiJapan #WinForJapan bit.ly/W4_WatchLive_TW https://t.co/FVKJKCG7pa His next opportunity to play in the NBA came with the Denver Nuggets, who signed him to a training camp deal. However, they waived him entering the 2008-09 season. Fazekas played in the Summer League for the Mavericks, Clippers and the Boston Celtics. #4 Yuta Watanabe Yuta Watanabe is one of two active Japanese players in the NBA. Watanabe entered the 2018 draft but went undrafted. The Memphis Grizzlies signed him as an undrafted rookie in the same year. He played 15 games for the franchise, averaging 2.6 points per game. He played 18 games the following season but had an even more reduced role as he averaged just eight minutes per contest. Watanabe averaged two points per game that year. Ballislife.com@BallislifeWelcome to Brooklyn Yuta Watanabe!4252344Welcome to Brooklyn Yuta Watanabe! https://t.co/jLPJG9rjzD Yuta Watanabe's best opportunity came with the Raptors when he signed with them as a free agent in 2020. He played 88 games for the team across two seasons, averaging 4.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He is now with the Brooklyn Nets, who signed him as a free agent this summer. #5 Rui Hachimura Rui Hachimura is one of the most successful Japanese players in the NBA. The Washington Wizards drafted him with the ninth pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Hachimura played 48 games in his first season. He averaged 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest. NBA@NBARui Hachimura put up a TOUGH double-double in front of his home country crowd in Tokyo.A special night for Japanese hoops. #NBAJapanGames948104Rui Hachimura put up a TOUGH double-double in front of his home country crowd in Tokyo.A special night for Japanese hoops. #NBAJapanGames https://t.co/PotfKfcB4T The following year, he played 57 games and made his playoff debut. Hachimura bagged 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest in his sophomore year. Rui Hachimura missed the first half of the 2021-22 season, his third year in the NBA, citing personal reasons. Hachimura returned to play 42 games, starting 13 of those and averaging 11.3 points and 3.8 rebounds. × Rate this story! Thank You! LIVE POLL Q. 0 votes so far Edited by Arhaan Raje Like Like Excited Happy Anxious Angry Sad Share Comments Show More Comments GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? No thanks Delete GIF Cancel Update GIF Cancel Reply ❮ ❯ GIF Comment in moderation 0 0 Reply x Edit Delete Delete the comment? 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