Yuta Watanabe gave up the Grizzlies' 2.6 million player option and returned to Japan with his beautiful actor's wife
On April 20, it was reported that a few days ago, Yuta Watanabe, a Japanese player who plays for the NBA Grizzlies, announced on his personal social media that he would end his 6-year NBA career and return to the Japanese league next season, and he also gave up the $2.6 million player option for this.
On June 21, 2018, Yuta Watanabe was undrafted in the 2018 NBA Draft. On July 21 of the same year, Yuta Watanabe joined the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies on a two-way contract. On November 28, 2020, Yuta Watanabe joined the Toronto Raptors. On August 29, 2022, Yuta Watanabe joined the Nets. On July 1, 2023, Yuta Watanabe joined the Suns. In February 2024, Yuta Watanabe was traded to the Grizzlies.
Later in the season, Watanabe was traded to the Grizzlies. Watanabe has only played in five games throughout the season, and he hasn't played since March 3. Even though the team was full of injuries, Jenkins didn't give him a chance to play.
During his six years in the NBA, Yuta Watanabe played an average of 13.3 minutes per game, contributing 4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.4 steals, shooting 42.6% from the field and 37% from three-point range.
Yuta Watanabe has a $2.6 million player option for next season, but he has given it up.
Watanabe said, "I want to enjoy basketball more purely. At the age of 20, I would be brave enough to pursue my dreams, even if the road ahead was full of hardships, but now I am about to turn 30. ”
Speaking about not being seen at the Grizzlies, Yuta Watanabe said, "I can't say too much, but I can tell you that I was absent for personal reasons. To put it bluntly, I was absent because of emotional and mental problems. ”
It is worth mentioning that Yuta Watanabe will return to Japan with his wife Akiko Kuji, a well-known Japanese actor and former famous host of Fuji TV.
The two met in an interview before the 2019 Basketball World Cup, and after the Tokyo Olympics, Yuta Watanabe began to officially date Akiko Kuji, and officially married in May 2022. For the last two NBA seasons, Akiko Kuji has been by Watanabe's side in the United States.
In this regard, netizens have said, "It's time to go back to Japan to spend a small life with my wife"
"Madam, I really lost my job to Watari-so"
"Staying in the NBA is also a water cooler, it's better to go back to Japan and be a big star"
"The B-League can't get a higher salary than this, so Watanabe just went home as the core to play happily, no matter how good the role players played in the NBA before, they always couldn't show dominance when they returned to the national team, and their performance was always much worse than that of the core of the B-League. ”
"It seems that after playing six seasons in the NBA, I can't remember how old I can get a pension."
"I was a little disheartened by being traded to the Grizzlies, and I can't continue to follow Du Xiaoshuai"
"Madam, you don't want your husband to have no ball to play, I'm sorry to disturb."