Yuta Watanabe Makes History as Memphis Grizzlies Route Suns

The Memphis Grizzlies were firing on all cylinders for the home crowd, which enabled rookie Yuta Watanabe to make history.

On Saturday, NBA history was made and it played in favor of the Memphis Grizzlies. It involved rookie two-way contractual player Yuta Watanabe at the 4:31 mark in the fourth quarter.

With the Grizzlies securing a large lead, it was time to empty the bench. Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff called the name of Watanabe, who became just the second Japanese player to check into an NBA game.

Eerily enough, the first Japanese player — Yuta Tabuse in the 2004-05 season — was a member of the Phoenix Suns, who was the Grizzlies’ opponent in Saturday’s matchup.

Tabuse played his first NBA regular season minutes at the age of 24 years and 29 days. Yuta Watanabe received his first action at 24 years and 14 days, narrowly becoming the youngest Japanese-born player to make a season debut.

Watanabe finished the night with two points off of 100% free-throw shooting to combine with two rebounds and one turnover. Memphis prevailed by a final score of 96-117 in front of their home crowd. They now own a record of 3-2, which currently ranks them fifth in the NBA’s Western Conference.

Thus far, the Memphis Grizzlies’ fan base has embraced Watanabe. He was the talk of the season-opening fan event and team scrimmage, which was open to the public. Saturday was a first, but many more opportunities are expected in the future for Yuta. He is a true piece of the franchise’s future. They have invested in him.

As seen by Yuta Watanabe in the Grizzlies’ preseason meeting against the Indiana Pacers, he will win them some games once he becomes further developed for the NBA game.

For some Grizzlies fans, the most puzzling aspect of the final few minutes in Saturday’s win is probably in regard to rookie Jevon Carter remaining on the inactive list, yet two-way contractual players have become activated before him.

The answer boils down to two-way contracts having a maximum allotment of 45 days in which they can remain with the NBA team. In Memphis’ case versus Phoenix, they are making the most of the time Yuta Watanabe is with the Grizzlies prior to the start of the Memphis Hustle‘s season.

The 45-day ticker does not begin until the G-League season starts and it continues until the final Hustle game has been played. Their 2018-19 season officially begins on Saturday, November 3rd.

This is the fifth consecutive NBA season where there have been a minimum of 100 international players on rosters. All 30 clubs contain at least one international player, which is astounding.

This demonstrates how great the NBA’s global reach has become. It is a key component to making them the best professional sports league in American sports. Though the NFL has attempted to expand their reach in European countries, they are not finding the success the NBA has earned.

Yuta Watanabe makes up one of five international players placed on a two-way contract to open the season. This is in addition to the 108 international players that were on Opening-Night rosters by October 16th. The Memphis Grizzlies own four international players, including Watanabe.