Yuta Tabuse, formerly of the Phoenix Suns - and still winning championships at age 44.
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TOKYO, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 7: Japanese basketball player Yuta Tabuse attends a press conference on September 7, 2004 in Tokyo, Japan. Tabuse is hoping to become the first Japanese player to play in the NBA after signing a multi-year contract with the Phoenix Suns. (Photo by Junko Kimura/Getty Images)
Two decades ago, a 5’8 point guard from the other side of the Pacific Ocean made NBA history. The Phoenix Suns signed a free agent point guard named Yuta Tabuse to their 2004 training camp roster, and against the odds, he made the team.
Despite still having $6 million guaranteed on his contract, the Suns waived veteran Howard Eisley to accommodate Tabuse, whose addition was not just a public relations move. Playing 17 minutes over four games, Tabuse became the first Japanese-born player to play in an NBA game. He had been in training camp the previous year for the Denver Nuggets, being one of the final cuts, yet when he made the Suns’ roster, he made history.
In the advent of players such as Rui Hachimura, Yuki Kawamura and Yuta Watanabe, the sight of a Japanese player in the world’s premier basketball league is not as rare as it once was. Tabuse was the pioneer, though, and drew comparisons to baseball great Ichiro Suzuki back home in how he blazed a trail on American shores.
Amazingly, despite 21 years in basketball terms being equivalent to an entire epoch, Tabuse is still playing. And yesterday, he captained his team to the Japanese domestic league title.
Making History With The Suns
The Suns waived Tabuse that Christmas, and although training camp with the Los Angeles Clippers followed in 2005, three seasons in the G League (then known as the Developmental League) did not lead to any more NBA game time. Neither did summer league stints with the then-New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks.
For five years between 2003 and 2008, Tabuse tried to make it in the NBA, but the 17 minutes with the Suns were all he managed. He just did not have NBA size. This, though, was far from the end of his career.
After giving up on his NBA dream, Tabuse has been back in his native Japan, playing for the Utsunomiya Brex (formerly known as the Tochigi Brex) the entire time. Since the league’s formation in 2013, the Brex are one of the most successful teams in the history of the Japanese NBL, and this week, Tabuse – the team captain – led the Brex to their third title, and second in four years.
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Tabuse Still Playing, Albeit Mostly Watching
“Led”, perhaps, is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. Tabuse is the team’s captain and veteran leader, yet he barely plays any longer – he appeared in only 29 minutes across nine games all season, recording two points, two steals and three fouls. For comparison, former Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Grant Jerrett – the Brex’s second-leading scorer with 14.6 points per game – played 28.4 minutes per game in 66 contests.
Where once he was a speedster, playmaker and defensive terror, Tabuse has slowed down with age, as do we all. The 2004 haircut has well and truly gone, which is probably for the best, and Tabuse’s role with the Brex is functionally more like that of having an extra coach.
Nevertheless, it all counts. One of the oldest professionals in the game today, Tabuse is still playing and winning and titles. He has outlasted Leandro Barbosa by five years, Steve Nash by a decade, and Howard Eisley by a full nineteen years. Here’s to a potential 18th season with the Brex.