Yuta Watanabe, Japan’s most popular basketball player, took to Players Tribune in his home country Friday to thank his Raptors fans for their two years of loyalty but also to talk about how much he appreciates Brooklyn ... and how much of his basketball history is centered in the borough.
From two Atlantic 10 conference tournaments at Barclays in 2015 and 2016, then tryouts with the Nets at their new training facility in Industry City in 2018, a stint months later on the Nets Summer League team and now in 2022 a roster spot — his first on any of his five Opening Nights in the league — Brooklyn is his basketball home.