BASKETBALL
Did you know that the first non-white player for the Basketball Association of America (precursor to the NBA) was Japanese American?

Dates of interest:
1908: Basketball is introduced to Japan by Hyozo Omori, a YMCA exchange student who attended school in Springfield, Massachusetts.
1947: Wat Misaka plays for the New York Knicks and is their first non-white player.
2000: San Jose native Rex Walters grew up playing in the local Japanese American basketball league. He currently plays for the NBA's Miami Heat.


Photo: Gift of the Ito Family of Denver (99.70)

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JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM