Yuta Watanabe was traded from the Phoenix Suns to Memphis in February, and after the regular season ended, Yuta Watanabe made another bombshell announcement, announcing that he would reject the $2.7 million player option for the 2024-25 season and choose to return to play in the Japanese league.
When it comes to the reason, Watanabe said it's best for his mental health. Watanabe played only five games for the Memphis Grizzlies before the end of the season and often missed games for personal reasons.
It also made many fans worry about his mental health, but in the end, Watanabe added: "After going through the ordeal of being in his 20s, he just wants to enjoy basketball now and never give up no matter what." Sometimes it's fun, but it's also hard. ”
Judging by the video posted by Watanabe, several clear details can be summed up.
1. Watanabe's basketball career in the United States has not been pleasant, and it has even been a struggle for him, because he has been on a non-guaranteed contract and may face unemployment every day until he joins the Suns.
2. During the time he was on the bench in Memphis, he faced a huge mental blow to her, and he cried uncontrollably, not even understanding why.
3. Even if he has some game time to play, his whole body loses control of his muscles before the game, and this mental pressure has been with him since he was in his 20s.
4. He is ready to go to Paris and represent Japan at the Olympics.
At the end of the day, the main reason Watanabe left the NBA was that he wanted to play basketball, but he didn't get enough of it in the NBA.
Yuta Watanabe's decision is particularly meaningful for the Japanese national team to prepare for the Olympics, and if Watanabe remains in the NBA, he is expected to join the national team training in late June, but now there will be no restrictions, and the Japanese men's basketball team is currently planning to start training in mid-May.
Yuta Watanabe served as the captain of the Japanese men's basketball team in the World Cup last year, and he has actual achievements and popularity endorsements in his playing year.
After moving from Phoenix to the Grizzlies at the bottom of the record, Yuta Watanabe originally thought that he still had a chance to play and actively prepare, but he was directly told by his coach before one game that he would not be sent to the game. Watanabe revealed that this incident had a very big impact on him, and he couldn't help but cry when he returned to the hotel, and even affected his physical and mental state.
Yuta Watanabe mentioned that the Grizzlies still want him to stay, but he himself wants to return to Japan to play, and he also expressed his gratitude to the Grizzlies.
Yuta Watanabe is the second Japanese to land in the NBA after Yuta Tawo, and has played for the Raptors, Nets, Suns, and Grizzlies in his career, playing in a total of 213 games, averaging 4.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.
Yuki Tomigashi is the first player in the Japanese professional basketball team to earn more than 100 million yen a year, and the media also predicts that Yuta Watanabe is likely to get a contract with an annual salary of more than 200 million yen in the robbery war. (about 9,200,000 RMB)
Unlike Hachimura, he is the only pure Asian non-mixed-race player in the NBA today, and it is not easy to enter the NBA, and "attitude" has become the key to his foothold.
Yuta Watanabe was born in 1994 to parents who were both professional basketball players, and his mother also played for the Japanese women's national basketball team.
In high school, Watanabe led the basketball team to the runner-up of the All Japan High School Basketball Championship, and at the age of 19, he attended a college preparatory high school in the United States, and was called "the chosen son" by the Japan Times.
Watanabe joined George Washington University in 2014 and was named to the All-Defensive Team of the Atlantic Ten Conference in his junior year, and has been known as a defensive stalwart ever since.
After losing the 2018 NBA Draft, Watanabe played in the NBA Summer League. Subsequently, he signed a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies and their NBA's G-League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle.
Watanabe has been moving between the Grizzlies and the Hustle in 2019, but he's already a well-known athlete in Japan.
In an interview with Fuji TV in Japan, he got acquainted with Akiko Kuji, who was a Fuji announcer at the time.
Hiroko Kuji and Watanabe are the same age, and the two are veritable talented women.
Akiko Kuji is 166 cm tall, and her mother is an English teacher, so she has been speaking English fluently since she was a child.
In 2013, Akiko Kuji, who was still in college, entered the entertainment industry as a model and radio anchor, and signed a large group through a model campaign, and her photo sales were also good in Japan.
In July 2014, Akiko Kuji made her debut as an actress in the TV series "Love in the Golden Village", and stood out in the Non-No Model Talent Championship held by a well-known Japanese women's magazine at the same time.
In April 2017, Akiko Kuji, who graduated from university, joined Fuji TV as an announcer. The program he hosts as a resident announcer is "Mema TV".
Akiko Kuji is not only sweet-looking, but also a versatile all-round artist, and has also filmed the movies "Hit Me Again", "Not Completely Dead", and the Japanese hit drama "The Last Policeman" and so on.
In 2020, Akiko Kuji established a relationship with Yuta Watanabe and started a long long-distance relationship, and the two saw each other very little because of work.
Perhaps because of the torment of lovesickness, in 2022 Akiko Kuji quit her job at Fuji TV to become a freelance model and announcer, re-signing with Incent, a modeling agency she had worked with during college.
You must know that an iron job like Fuji TV is a very valuable job in Japan, and after resigning from her job, Akiko Kuji announced her marriage to Yuta Watanabe the following month.
Although Akiko Kuji often flew to the United States to accompany Watanabe's games after marriage, this long-distance relationship life was still very boring for the two, and finally in 2024, Watanabe gave up the hard-won basic salary contract.
Based on the consideration of his career and family, Yuta Watanabe's choice may be wise, rather than being a phoenix, it is better to return to the B-League and kill all sides.
Many fans also ridiculed that with such a beautiful daughter-in-law working as a model in Japan, how could Watanabe be be able to play on the other side of the ocean with peace of mind.
During Watanabe's time in the NBA, Akiko Kuji also went to watch the game many times, and his teammates were also full of praise for Watanabe's wife, especially Durant.
Judging from the photos posted by the two Watanabe on a daily basis, the Nets experience was almost the most satisfying time for him.
It is worth mentioning that every time Jiuji Xiaozi goes to watch the game, she sits in the audience far away, and does not enjoy the privilege of the star's wife, if she returns to the B League, she will definitely be the number one superstar, and the treatment is too far behind.
The salary of the Japanese B League is not high, and even the maximum salary is not as good as Watanabe's after-tax salary in the NBA, so it can be seen that he can be regarded as giving it a go for love.
This article was originally edited by Art Rabbit Sports
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