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| Spitfire Yuta Tabuse during his Phoenix Suns days. |
It has been six years since Yuta Tabuse became the first player from Japan to see action in the NBA while playing action for the Phoenix Suns. To date, the diminutive guard from Yokohama remains the most popular hoops player in his homeland. The 5-9 former Brigham Young University (Hawaii) standout played a total of four games with the Suns during the 2004-05 season with a scoring average of 1.8 points per game. Tabuse, who currently plays for Tochigi Brex in the Japan Pro League, also saw action in the NBA D-League with Albuquerque and Anaheim and played 117 total games with averages of 11.4 ppg and 6.3 apg. Jason Rabedeaux recently wrote about the Elvis Presley-like popularity of Tabuse and the current state of Japan basketball in his Hoopshype Blog.
“Basketball in Japan is playing catch-up. The last time the Japanese National Team competed in the Olympics was 1976 in Montreal (finishing 11th). And while Yao and Yi Jianlian have each made incredible NBA impacts for China, only one Japanese player, Yuta Tabuse, has appeared in an NBA game. Tabuse played four times for the Phoenix Suns during the 2004-2005 regular season before being waived. Tabuse is currently our starting point guard for Tochigi Brex and although his regular season stint with the Suns was brief, he still enjoys Elvis Presley-like popularity in Japan.”
I didn't know we had an ASIAN point gaurd in the NBA. Nice to know! GO SUNS!!! My friend Mr. Narciso Abutin is a fan of the Phoenix Suns too. He's always been Lexus Club Member at US Airways Center.....Rachel Villanueva.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel for your comment. Yeah, Jun Abutin is my cousin and he is really a big Suns fan. Yuta Tabuse played only 4 games for the Suns during the '04-05 season and he is now back playing in his country of Japan for the Tochigi Brex squad in the Japan Pro PLeague under American coach Jason Rabedeaux.
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