Yuta Tabuse

Yuta Tabuse
Yuta Tabuse
Born	Error: Need valid birth date: year, month, day; Yokohama, Japan
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Years active	1999–present
Known for	First Japanese-born player in the NBA

Tabuse is a professional basketball athlete from Japan currently playing for Utsunomiya Brex in the B.League. Occupying the position of point guard, he measures and weighs . Notably, he was the first player born in Japan to compete in an National Basketball Association (NBA) game.

During his high school tenure, Tabuse achieved widespread acclaim in Japan by guiding his team to three straight national titles. His prominence in the sport has led to him being dubbed "the Michael Jordan of Japan."

Early years

Born in Yokohama into a family with a strong athletic background, Tabuse began playing basketball at age nine after showing little enthusiasm for baseball and soccer. He attended Noshiro Technical High School in Akita Prefecture, where he captained the team to three consecutive national championships, suffering just one defeat during that period.

Following his graduation in March 1999, Tabuse enrolled at Brigham Young University-Hawaii to pursue an English language program. After sitting out two seasons due to eligibility restrictions, he competed for one season, averaging 7.6 points per game and leading the Pacific West Conference with 6.6 assists.

Upon returning to Japan, he joined the Toyota Alvark, earning the Japan Basketball League Rookie of the Year honor during the 2002–03 season.

NBA, ABA and NBA D-League

In 2003, Tabuse made history as the first Japanese player to participate in the NBA summer league, appearing in six games for the Dallas Mavericks' Rocky Mountain Revue team and averaging 4.5 points along with one assist over 13 minutes per game. He then attended the Denver Nuggets' training camp but was released before the regular season commenced.

That same year, he played for the ABA champion Long Beach Jam, posting averages of 5.3 points and a team-leading 6.3 assists across 18 games.

In 2004, Tabuse joined the Phoenix Suns' training camp and secured a spot on their opening night roster, becoming the first Japanese athlete to play in an NBA regular-season contest on November 3, 2004. He participated in four games before being waived on December 16 and subsequently rejoined Long Beach Jam. Suns assistant coach Marc Iavaroni commended his enthusiasm and bravery on the court.

Those four NBA appearances remain Tabuse's sole games at that level. His final NBA outing occurred on December 15, 2004, where he played two minutes without recording any statistics.

In 2005, Tabuse signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, though he was waived prior to the start of the season. Nevertheless, he featured on a special edition cover of NBA Live released in Japan that year. Additionally, he was selected by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds of the NBA Development League, averaging 6.5 points and four assists over 34 games before being released in March 2006. Michael Cooper, former NBA player and coach, described him as "the best fundamental player I've seen around in a long time."

Choosing to participate in the Dallas Mavericks' summer league in 2006 rather than represent Japan at the world championships, Tabuse was drafted by the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA D-League but was cut before the start of the 2007–08 season.

On December 8, 2007, Tabuse signed with the Anaheim Arsenal, making his debut by contributing four points and three assists. He finished that season averaging 4.5 points and two assists across 39 games.

In July 2008, Tabuse took part with the New Jersey Nets' squad during the Orlando Pro Summer League.

Return to Japan

In August 2008, Tabuse inked a contract with the Japan Basketball League's Link Tochigi Brex, reuniting with head coach Mitsuhiko Kato, who had previously guided him during his time at Noshiro Technical High School.

By April 2009, Tabuse secured a spot on the 22-player roster representing the Japan national basketball team at the FIBA Asia Championship. However, the following month, he withdrew from the national squad after receiving an invitation from the Dallas Mavericks to participate in their summer training camp.

Tabuse's squad clinched the JBL Basketball League championship title in 2010, where he was honored as the Finals MVP. They added another Japanese League championship in 2017, competing under the newly branded Japanese Professional Basketball League. Remarkably, Tabuse maintains his professional playing career well into his forties.

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2004-05 | align="left" | Phoenix | 4 || 0 || 4.3 || .167 || 1.00 || 1.00 || 1.0 || 0.8 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.8 |- |}

D-League

|- | align="left" | 2005–2006 | align="left" | ABQ | 34 || 4 || 23.2 || .406 || .313 || .780 || 2.1 || 4.0 || 1.2 || 0.0 || 1.21 || 6.5 |- | align="left" | 2006–2007 | align="left" | BAK | 44 || 3 || 18.7 || .412 || .263 || .773 || 1.4 || 3.5 || 0.9 || 0.0 || 1.20 || 6.1 |- | align="left" | 2007–2008 | align="left" | ANA | 39 || 0 || 13.0 || .374 || .341 || .810 || 1.2 || 2.0 || 0.9 || 0.0 || 1.07 || 5.7 |}

JBL

|- | align="left" | 2008–2009 | align="left" | Tochigi | 33 || 33 || 34.2 || .475 || .226 || .742 || 3.5 || 5.6 || 2.3 || 0.1 || 2.24 || 11.0 |- | align="left" | 2009–2010 | align="left" | Tochigi | 26 || -- || 26.6 || .551 || .360 || .803 || 3.1 || 3.5||2.0||0.0||1.46||11.8 |- | align="left" |2010–2011 | align="left" | Tochigi |31||--||28.8|| .455|| .375|| .792||2.6||3.4||1.3||0.1||0.97||8.7 |- | align="left" |2011–2012 | align="left" | Tochigi |39||--||20.9|| .488|| .156|| .741||2.3||2.6||1.2||0.1||1.5||6.4 |- | align="left" |2012–2013 | align="left" | Tochigi |22||--||26.8|| .476|| .188|| .879||2.4||2.7||0.8||0.0||1.5||10.4 |}

NBL

|- | align="left" |2013–2014 | align="left" | Tochigi |54||--||32.8|| .441|| .330|| .858||4.2||5.9||2.0||0.1||2.1||15.6 |- | align="left" |2014–15 | align="left" | Tochigi |51||--||26.9|| .471|| .250|| .814||2.2||4.5||1..7||0..1|||1..7|||10..3| |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- |- }

External links