Kiefer Ravena and other Filipino imports in Japan get that much closer to the NBA as the league enters a strategic partnership with the B.LEAGUE.
Filipino imports playing in the Japan B.LEAGUE will have the chance to rub shoulders with basketball’s best as the NBA recently entered a partnership with the hoops league in the Land of the Rising Sun.
During a Zoom call with global media earlier this month, NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum spoke about the partnership and its goals, which will have players like Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, Kiefer Ravena, among others, get closer to the NBA.
After Japanese players like Rui Hachimura and Yuki Kawamura made it to the NBA, the league has opened its doors to the regional tournament.
“As you know, we recently announced a strategic collaboration with the B.LEAGUE, and that collaboration is to advance basketball development in Japan. Together, we’re gonna explore collaborations around elite player development, including potential opportunities for the B.LEAGUE teams and players to participate in select NBA and G League events. So, that’s the idea there,” said Tatum.
“The B.LEAGUE has been growing a lot there and basketball has been growing tremendously in Japan. So players like Rui Hachimura, Yuki Kawamura, they’re driving this enormous interest in basketball and the NBA in Japan,” he added.
Of note that among B.LEAGUE Filipino imports is Kai Sotto as well, who has been sidelined by injury but has been previously touted as possibly the first homegrown Filipino in the NBA.
Since a short stint with the NBA G League Ignite, followed by his stay in the Australian NBL with the Adelaide 36ers, Sotto now finds himself in another league which is inching him closer to the NBA dream.
Before Kai, Ravena and Ray Parks Jr. also tried to break into the NBA via the G League.
Aside from Filipino imports, the B.LEAGUE also feature a number of former NBA players who have found their footing in the regional league, like former Toronto Raptors player Yuta Watanabe, and two-time NBA champion James McAdoo.
Among the current world imports from top teams this season, San-en's David Nwaba and Ryukyu's Jack Cooley also have previous NBA experience.
But more than the Filipino imports and former NBA players, the collaboration aims to develop Japan’s basketball talents as they emerge as another big contender in producing global-ready basketball talents.
With former MVP Kawamura being the latest and most prominent to make the jump from the B.LEAGUE to the NBA, Tatum believes it will push other Japanese players to get better and better, and the NBA wants to go along with that journey with them.
“In fact, we’re seeing this Yuki effect across social media, and merchandise sales in Japan. Content featuring Yuki on our localized social media accounts in Japan has generated more than 67 million views to date with the top post performing a 100 times higher than the average post,” narrated Tatum.
“So that fan interest that we’re seeing in Japan is translating into the local league and we wanna work with the B.LEAGUE to continue to advance basketball development in Japan. That’s the reason for the strategic collaboration there,” he added.
The collaboration was first announced earlier this year with not much details on the partnership just yet.
The B.LEAGUE is currently deep into its 2024-25 season.