SPORTS / U.S.A.
May 4, 2020
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 13
Asians in American sports w Asian Americans in world sports
Bright future for Asian NBA players amid virus uncertainty
By Mike Street
Special to The Asian Reporter
AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File
T
he coronavirus pandemic has stopped the sporting
world in its tracks. Some leagues have delayed the
start of their season, and others, like the National
Basketball Association (NBA), had to halt play
midseason. The NBA suspended its season on March 11,
but there’s still no word about when and how the season
will continue, leaving three players and a coach with
Asian roots in suspense.
In the most likely scenario, the NBA will skip past the
remaining regular-season games straight to the playoffs.
If it does, two of those players and the coach will be in the
playoffs, while Japan’s Rui Hachimura will watch from
home.
The son of a Japanese mother and a Beninese father,
Hachimura started playing basketball in Japan at age 14.
Despite the late start, he soon caught the eye of
international scouts, eventually getting recruited by
Gonzaga University. There, Hachimura continued to
develop his game, winning the 2019 Julius Erving Award
as the NCAA’s best small forward.
Two months later, the Washington Wizards drafted
Hachimura ninth overall, making him the NBA’s first
Japanese first-round pick. He began his first season with
Washington well, averaging 13.9 points and 5.8 rebounds
through his first 25 games, with a 48.2% field goal
percentage. Then Hachimura suffered a groin injury that
knocked him out for almost seven weeks.
He came back just as strong, averaging 12.5 points and
6.4 rebounds, with an equally strong 47.1% field goal
percentage. And then the league suspended the season,
with Washington sitting in ninth place in the East, 5.5
games behind the Orlando Magic for the final playoff spot.
It would have been hard for the Wizards to catch
Orlando over the final 18 games of the season. But getting
so close to the playoffs should motivate Hachimura and
the Wizards to continue improving and get there in 2021.
In 2014, the Wizards drafted a different player with
Asian roots, Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson. But
they quickly traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers, where
he played alongside Asian-American Jeremy Lin in his
first season. Over the three seasons that followed,
Clarkson played both guard positions as a starter and
substitute, consistently ranking among the team leaders
in scoring and minutes played.
Midway through the 2017-2018 season, the Lakers
traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Clarkson
joined them in their fourth straight Finals appearance.
BMX rider Sakakibara makes slow
recovery, Olympic hopes over
SYDNEY (AP) — Australian
BMX rider Kai Sakakibara,
who grew up in Japan, was
relocated from a hospital to a
rehabilitation
center
last
month, but his hopes of
qualifying for the Olympics are
over and his family was told to
expect permanent disability
after he suffered a traumatic
brain injury (TBI).
The 23-year-old Sakakibara
needed surgery to relieve pres-
sure on his brain after a crash in
February at a World Cup event
in Bathurst west of Sydney that
left him unconscious and in
intensive care.
Sakakibara, ranked among
the world’s top 10 BMX riders in
recent years, spent nearly eight
weeks in a Canberra hospital.
But with all surgery now
completed, he has moved to the
Brain Injury Rehabilitation
Unit in western Sydney, where
he is expected to remain for
“many months.”
An
update
from
the
Sakakibara family had said that
in the last 10 days before being
moved to the rehabilitation
center, he’d progressed from
pointing to “yes” or “no” on a
piece of paper to speaking when
asked simple questions.
But doctors have told the
family he will have some
permanent disability, with the
trauma on the left side of his
brain currently impacting his
ability to speak and move the
right side of his body.
“Kai continues to ‘emerge’
UNCERTAIN SEASON. Forward Rui Hachimura (#8), top photo,
of the Washington Wizards dribbles the ball up the court in a National
Basketball Association (NBA) game against the Golden State Warriors,
in San Francisco, on March 1, 2020. In the bottom photo, Jordan Clark-
son of the Utah Jazz is seen during an NBA match against the Boston
Celtics, in Boston, on March 6, 2020.
Sadly, the Cavs lost for the third time in that span, but he
remained a stalwart substitute for Cleveland last season,
ranking third on the team in minutes played and second in
scoring.
This season, Clarkson again found himself traded, this
time to the Utah Jazz. While he remains on the bench, he
went from last-place Cleveland to the fourth-best team in
the Western Conference. Even though he’s just a super
substitute, Clarkson’s Finals experience and ability to
make tough shots off the bench could prove crucial for the
Jazz.
Another Western Conference player with Asian roots,
Japan’s Yuta Watanabe, has also been helping his team
off the bench, though in a much smaller role than
Clarkson. But Watanabe’s already done plenty for his fans
in Japan.
As the child of two Japanese professional basketball
players, Watanabe always knew he would follow in their
footsteps. But he set his sights higher than the Japanese
leagues they played in. At ten years old, he watched the
debut of Yuta Tabuse, the NBA’s first Japanese player,
and Watanabe resolved to play in the NBA too.
Watanabe later transferred to a Connecticut prep
school, leading their basketball team to the National Prep
Championship game. Then he enrolled at George
Washington University, quickly becoming a feared
defender and sharpshooter.
His height and speed enable Watanabe to guard
virtually anyone, so he usually stifled the opponent’s best
player, earning the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the
Year award in his senior year. In his final year, he also led
his team in scoring and three-pointers, and set school
records in career blocks and minutes played.
Undrafted, Watanabe signed a two-year contract in
2018 with the Memphis Grizzlies and their developmental
G League team, the Memphis Hustle. While Watanabe
has only played 31 games over the past two seasons with
the Grizzlies, he has anchored the Hustle while also
Continued on page 14
Kauai mayor imposes curfew, then entertains fellow bored residents
By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher
The Associated Press
ONOLULU — When a curfew goes into
effect each night for one county in Hawai‘i,
the mayor gets bored — and posts videos on
social media.
And his constituents? They’re entertained.
“Our mayor is bettah than yours!!” one woman
commented, responding to Kauai mayor Derek
Kawakami’s stiff but earnest version of the
Renegade to the rap song “Lottery,” one of the most
popular dances on social media.
In other videos, posted to his personal Facebook
and Instagram accounts, he creates a mask out of a
t-shirt and makes ice cream.
Even before Hawai‘i governor David Ige issued a
statewide stay-at-home order to curb the spread of
the coronavirus, Kawakami set a 9:00pm to 5:00am
curfew for his county, which includes the islands of
Kauai and Niihau.
The videos, the 42-year-old mayor explains on
Facebook, are meant to “break the boredom together
as a community.” And they seem to have succeeded.
A video he posted April 4 of him dancing generated
thousands of shares and hundreds of comments on
Facebook.
“And if you’re wondering why I’m out of breath and
why I’m sweating,” he says after his Renegade dance,
“because that was like take 1,022.”
Kawakami also uses his videos for some serious
commentary, including demonstrating the proper
way to remove disposable gloves, which he’s seen left
behind in shopping carts and baskets.
“And please folks throw your opala away,” he says,
using the Hawaiian word for trash.
“We no leave our trash for somebody else pick up,”
he says in Pidgin, Hawai‘i’s creole language that he
slips in and out of easily, reflecting his island roots.
He’s also garnered attention by publicly calling
those who defy quarantine orders “covidiots.”
“I LOVE all your postings!” a woman commented
on a video. “So fun, so caring, so empathetic, and a
blessing to us all, even us who live on Oahu!!!”
Kauai resident Michael Miranda said the videos
show a human side to the mayor. “On the policy side,
H
ROAD TO RECOVERY. Australian
BMX rider Kai Sakakibara sits on a bike in
the suburb of Sydney, Australia, in this
November 12, 2019 file photo. (Kyodo
News via AP, File)
from the state of unconscious-
ness, and we are super excited to
start communicating with him,”
the family statement said.
“However, as time progresses it
becomes more and more evident
that this has been a truly
serious injury.”
They said Sakakibara has
already made “solid improve-
ments”
in
physiotherapy,
occupational,
and
speech
therapy, while the facility had
gone to great lengths to protect
patients from the coronavirus.
“Kai has his phone and scrolls
through social media every day.
He ‘likes’ posts and tries to send
text messages to friends, but
they are invariably scrambled,”
the family said. “So, if you get a
text from Kai, don’t worry, his
account has not been hacked,
he’s just trying to get in touch
with people. Sometimes he gets
annoyed and sometimes he just
puts on that patient Kai smile
Continued on page 14
CURBING CORONAVIRUS. Kauai mayor Derek Kawakami
wears a mask in Lihue, Hawai‘i. Kawakami imposed a curfew to curb
the spread of the coronavirus. He then entertains residents with
nightly videos to “break the boredom.” (Sarah Blane/Kauai County)
I appreciate all the hard decisions he’s been making,”
Miranda said.
Miranda said Kawakami seemed to be “a couple
steps ahead” of Hawai‘i’s other counties —
discouraging tourists from visiting Kauai, even
before a statewide 14-day quarantine for travellers
arriving in Hawai‘i went into effect.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or
moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that
clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially
older adults and people with existing health
problems, it can cause more severe illness, including
pneumonia, and death. The vast majority of people
recover.
Popular Honolulu Star-Advertiser columnist Lee
Cataluna wrote in April that Kawakami “has
emerged as one of the most decisive and blunt
political leaders in Hawai‘i” during the pandemic.
Many comments suggest he should be Hawai‘i’s
next governor. He said he’s not thinking about his
political future.
“Throughout this whole challenging event, all that
it’s done for me is further solidified my heart where I
belong,” he said. “And right now, it’s here on Kauai.”
To view the video, visit <www.facebook.com/1258603938/videos/
10222163546778497>. While nonstop global news about the
effects of the coronavirus have become commonplace, so, too,
are the stories about the kindness of strangers and individuals
who have sacrificed for others. “One Good Thing” is an
AP continuing series reflecting these acts of kindness.