Basketball: Watanabe ready to mediate in Hachimura’s row with JBA
Source: – Kyodo News+
Japan forward Yuta Watanabe voiced hope he might calm the waters after his national teammate Rui Hachimura openly questioned Tom Hovasse staying on as the men’s team head coach.
“I’m looking to communicate with Tom, Rui and also the Japan Basketball Association in order to make the national team better,” Watanabe, who played six seasons in the NBA before returning home with Chiba Jets this summer, told reporters Thursday.
Watanabe said the rift started after the World Cup in the summer of 2023 in Okinawa, a tournament Hachimura skipped to concentrate on preparing for the 2023-2024 NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Japan forward Yuta Watanabe speaks to the media in Tokyo on Nov. 28, 2024. (Kyodo)
After Hovasse’s comments on Hachimura’s participation at the Paris Olympics were reported out of context, “Rui got really angry,” said Watanabe, admitting that “as a matter of fact, their relationship has not been good.”
“(Rui’s) agent completely blocked off all contact with him” to let Hachimura focus on the NBA season, which left Hovasse unable to speak directly with Hachimura and “their relationship could not be salvaged,” he said.
Hachimura this month criticized the JBA for what he perceived as its profit-oriented direction, as well as Hovasse’s contract renewal on Oct. 25, stating he was “disappointed” with the decision and Hovasse’s “training and meetings are not managed at the world level.”
Watanabe said he spoke to Hachimura after his recent remarks, and while claiming he understood his view, emphasized that Hovasse is the right man for Japan.
“I like Tom. He’s more fitting than anyone as Japan’s head coach,” Watanabe said. “Most of the current national team members are attached to Tom and to playing for him. If Tom leaves because of this saga, the current national team will disintegrate.”
Watanabe also said he has heard Hovasse describing the situation as “honestly, really tough.”
Hovasse led the Japan women’s team to the Tokyo Olympics silver medal in 2021 before becoming the men’s head coach. He guided the team to the Paris Olympics with three wins at the World Cup.
On Wednesday, Japan Sports Agency Commissioner Koji Murofushi, the 2004 Athens Olympics men’s hammer throw gold medalist, praised the JBA for Japanese basketball’s recent upturn but urged the JBA to heed Hachimura’s words.
“I presume the JBA would have their views, but (Hachimura) is a cutting-edge player performing so well in the NBA,” Murofushi said. “They need to have a big heart to communicate and willingness to compromise.”
Watanabe reiterated that he felt no one was at fault.
“There is no villain in this drama,” he said. “As a member of the national team, I feel some responsibility to move toward a constructive end to this issue.”
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