Memphis Grizzlies: Generosity Will Pay Dividends for Yuta Watanabe

Exchanging a uniform number could pay off in increased popularity for the Memphis Grizzlies’ Yuta Watanabe.

This week at the 2019 NBA Draft, the Memphis Grizzlies landed perhaps their most popular player in Ja Morant, a promising point guard oozing of superstar potential. As he attempted to carry his jersey number of 12 from Murray State to the professional ranks, one person stood in his way. Yuta Watanabe was the roadblock.

Watanabe held the number 12 for the 2018-19 NBA season for the Grizzlies as he bounced to and from the G-League’s Memphis Hustle. He donned the Grizzly uniform in the major league NBA on 15 occasions. Yuta was just the sixth player in Grizzlies franchise history to wear number 12.

All 15 of those instances were moments of history in the making. He was just the second Japanese-born player in NBA history to log regular season minutes in addition to compiling regular season points, rebounds, assists, and more. He broke the records previously set by Yuta Tabuse in the 2004-05 season.

Watanabe’s surpassing of Tabuse boosted his popularity. Along with the individual popularity came increased team popularity. The Grizzlies welcomed a large Japanese following in the 2018-19 season largely in part of the emergence of Watanabe. For any small-market team, the bandwagon is always open, so the Grizzlies family became larger, even within a 33-49 losing season.

Yuta Watanabe was a huge hit with Japan in the most recent NBA season. While the association is always charging ahead in an attempt to expand globally while pressing superstar names on other countries around the world, Watanabe is a lesser-known player who has quickly made a major impact. Though he went undrafted in 2018, Yuta circumvented the struggles he faced by making history. Now, he is an icon, as found evident in his Grizzlies jersey sales in Japan.

As Watanabe and the Grizzlies prepare for the 2019-20 season, the sophomore-to-be will have to continue to fight for a spot in the rotation. A new head coach should help, too, as it seemed as if J.B. Bickerstaff forgot about Yuta in the second-half of the season, wasting much of the allocated time the rookie could have spent playing “up” with the Grizzlies.

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While all eyes from Japan are on Yuta Watanabe, all eyes inside of Memphis are focused on incoming rookie Ja Morant. In order to keep Morant’s tradition alive with jersey number 12, Watanabe immediately handed 12 over to his new teammate. Yuta is the veteran in comparison to Ja, but it was a nice gesture. It was a welcome sign.

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Hoops fans in the United States will remain familiar with Ja Morant in a number 12 uniform while Yuta Watanabe will move on to number 18. This will increase his jersey sales for a second consecutive season because his fan base will want the latest and greatest uniform representing one of the country’s own. Plus, as Watanabe further develops with the Grizzlies and makes his climb into the rotation, he will gain more fans on U.S. soil.

Some hidden news in all of this hints that Yuta Watanabe will return to the Grizzlies organization for a second season, whether playing on a two-way contract or upgrading to a partially- or fully-guaranteed deal. Just one week ago, Memphis decided to not bring back their second two-way contract in Julian Washburn. After showing a handful of promising plays on both sides of the basketball this past season, including a game-winning three-point shot in preseason action, it is a smart move by the Grizzlies to retain Watanabe.

If the Grizzlies’ rebuilding plan comes to fruition, this will be another major boost in popularity of all players and the brand as a whole. In being a small-market franchise, the Grizzlies are oftentimes overlooked, but this exciting and entertaining young core will command the respect from hoops fans of all countries, not just Japan in addition to the United States.