Early in the season the Grizzlies signed Japanese superstar point guard Yuki Kawamura to a two-way deal. In the blue-collar city of Grit & Grind Basketball, the undersized, lightning fast, shifty ballhandler was joined at the hip with Ja Morant. Yuki hitting the Griddy with Morant was flashed all over social media and he became a beloved hooper in a basketball crazy city.
While it would be easy to lend his likeability to the novelty aspects of Yuki, it was his game which defined an amazing season for the Hustle:
Yuki Kawamura played 31 games in the NBA G League this season, averaging 12.7 points, 8.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 2.3 three-pointers, and 1.3 steals per game. He also leads all players in the league with 11.8 assists per game.
This week ASICS dropped the video above and it’s a perfect introduction to Yuki and a reintroduction of ASICS Basketball. Isaiah Thomas once wore ASICS. While this classic video of Will Smith dreaming of schooling Zeke on the Fresh Prince doesn’t do the kicks justice, those who know, realize there are striking similarities between Yuki and Isaiah.
Which makes for an interesting return if ASICS handles it correctly. Right now, you can’t find ASICS Basketball anywhere in the U.S. The kicks don’t show up on the US website and the video featuring Yuki only gives a quick glance, but ASICS is a true performance brand, so the shoes probably perform extremely well.
Climbing back into basketball is no easy feat and ASICS will have a difficult time if the intent is to reenter the U.S. market; but Yuki is the perfect athlete to make this move and the history of the Pistons and Isaiah Thomas is an excellent connective tissue. The question is patience and understanding of what basketball is now. This might get interesting.