Yuta Watanabe (29), who played in the US professional basketball NBA for six seasons, the longest for a Japanese player, and has decided to play in Japan's B League next season, returned to Japan on April 21st. He held a press conference in Tokyo and mentioned Rui Hachimura (Lakers), who is also Japanese and will be competing on the NBA stage.

Watanabe had been absent from the Lakers-Grizzlies game in March. Since Watanabe was not with the team, Hachimura contacted him and asked, "Yuta, are you okay?" At that time, Watanabe reported, "I don't think I'll be in the NBA next season." Hachimura thanked him, saying, "Yuta, your six years here were amazing."

Watanabe laughed and said, "Rui praised me, which is rare for him," and added, "I was able to work hard because he was there. As a fellow Japanese, watching his play was undoubtedly my inspiration." He continued, "As a fellow teammate on the Japanese national team, I'm rooting for him. Next year will be his sixth year, and I think he'll keep playing. If that's what he wants, I hope he'll keep going as far as he can."