Memphis guard Yuta Watanabe made his NBA debut on Saturday during the Grizzlies' home victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Watanabe came off the bench in the fourth quarter, becoming the second Japanese player to appear in the NBA after Yuta Tabuse. Tabuse played four games for the Suns in 2004 and currently plays for the Tochigi Brex of the B.League.
Watanabe, 24, left Japan in 2013 after graduating from Jinsei Gakuen High School in Kagawa Prefecture to play basketball at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
He went unchosen in this year's NBA draft in June, but played for the Brooklyn Nets in the Summer League the following month. The Grizzlies signed Watanabe to a two-way contract on July 20, enabling the team to call him up on the premise that he plays mainly for its minor league affiliate.
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