Today, the NBA Brooklyn Nets officially announced that they will complete a one-year contract with Japanese player Yuta Watanabe.
Many "nationalists" began to frantically attack Nets Chinese boss Cai Chongxin on the Internet, believing that Cai Zong would rather leave the opportunity to the Japanese than give it to Zhou Qi and Zeng Fanbo.
In fact, Mr. Cai is actively assisting China in the development of basketball, in 2019, Cai Chongxin led the launch of the "Cai Chongxin Basketball Scholarship Program", starting from 2019, selecting outstanding young basketball talents in China, studying in boarding high schools in the United States, and providing comprehensive scholarships including tuition fees and residential fees during the study period until high school graduation. As of this year, four batches have been developed. Therefore, to say that Cai Zong is "heavy on the sun and light in the middle" is pure nonsense!
Yuta Watanabe is a typical example of a successful player who started at the bottom of the NBA league, persevered, and finally succeeded. His story has inspired many similar players to keep chasing NBA dreams.
Yuta Watanabe is a Japanese player with a height of 2.05 meters, plays as a small forward, graduated from the University of Washington in the NCAA, and started with defense. He competed in the 2018 NBA Draft and was not selected, but he did not give up and continued to play in the summer league to find opportunities.
Playing in the Summer League, he was signed to the NBA Memphis Grizzlies on a two-way contract on July 21, 2018, but at the Grizzlies, he didn't get much playing and put the cold bench through!
Played for the Japanese national team
But he did not lose momentum, seized every opportunity and then performed himself, and on December 21, 2020, the Toronto Raptors officially announced that they would once again sign Yuta Watanabe on a two-way contract.
In the Raptors' first season, Yuta Watanabe played more time than at the Grizzlies, but not a lot, averaging 4.4 points per game that season. But No matter how much Yuta Watanabe played, he maintained a positive attitude towards the game, executed the coach's arrangement well on the field, tenaciously defended the opponent, and actively covered for his teammates. When the offensive opportunity came, he also seized it. Team training, Yuta Watanabe is always the first to reach the training ground and the last to leave. He hopes that through the hard training attitude, he can get more trust from the coaching staff in order to get more opportunities to play!
In his four seasons in the NBA, he played in 121 games, averaged 12.0 minutes per game, scored 3.8 points and 2.5 boards, shot 40.9 percent from the field, shot 35.2 percent from three-point range and shot 66.7 percent from the free throw line.
On December 27, 2021, Yuta Watanabe had a highlight moment in the NBA, the Raptors lost 99-144 to the Cavaliers on the road, he played 37 minutes, scored 26 points on 11-of-19 shooting, and finished 13 rebounds! Both points and rebounds set a new high for him to join the NBA!
It is reported that the Nets and Yuta Watanabe signed an unsecured contract. But he readily accepted and was ready to work on it! He tweeted: I will continue to work hard with the mentality of the cliff edge!
There are many more like him in the NBA, like "Dog Brother" Beverley and so on, everyone is fighting for their dreams! Therefore, if you want to gain a foothold in the NBA, you must rely more on ability and hard work! Otherwise, even if you go, it is difficult to have a chance to develop!