Back واتارو ميساكا Arabic واتارو ميساكا ARZ Wat Misaka Danish Wataru Misaka Spanish واتارو میساکا FA Wataru Misaka French Wat Misaka Italian ワッツ・ミサカ Japanese Wataru Misaka SIMPLE 三阪亙 Chinese

Wat Misaka

Wat Misaka
Misaka in college with Utah in 1946–47
Personal information
Born(1923-12-21)December 21, 1923
Ogden, Utah, U.S.
DiedNovember 20, 2019(2019-11-20) (aged 95)
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Listed weight150 lb (68 kg)
Career information
High schoolOgden (Ogden, Utah)
College
NBA draft1947: 7th round, 61st overall pick
Selected by the New York Knicks
PositionPoint guard
Number15
Career history
1947New York Knicks
Career highlights and awards
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com
Wat Misaka
Japanese name
Kanji三阪 亙

Wataru Misaka (December 21, 1923 – November 20, 2019) was an American professional basketball player. A 5-foot-7-inch (1.70 m) point guard of Japanese descent, he broke a color barrier in professional basketball[1][2] by being the first non-white player and the first player of Asian descent to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), known then as the Basketball Association of America (BAA).[3][4][5]

Misaka played college basketball for the Utah Utes and led the team to win the 1944 NCAA and 1947 NIT championships. He took a two-year hiatus between these titles to serve in the United States Army in the American occupation of Japan.[6][7] Misaka subsequently played three games for the New York Knicks during the 1947–48 season.

  1. ^ Wataru Misaka, who broke pro basketball's color barrier, dies at 95. Yahoo Sports. November 21, 2019.
  2. ^ Brockell, Gillian (June 15, 2019). "He broke pro basketball's color barrier. Now Jeremy Lin joins him in the history books". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  3. ^ Vecsey, George (February 15, 2012). "The Old Guard Welcomes the New Guard". The New York Times. p. B10. Retrieved November 22, 2019. For a long time, he was remembered, if at all, as the first Asian-American player — the first nonwhite player, really — in the N.B.A.
  4. ^ Zwerling, Jared (January 17, 2012). "'Kilowatt' Misaka still beaming at 88". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 22, 2019. Misaka is Japanese-American, and when he was drafted in 1947 -- after helping lead the Utes to the 1944 NCAA and 1947 NIT championships -- he became not only the first Asian to enter the NBA (then called the Basketball Association of America), but the first non-white player in the league. He came before Earl Lloyd, Chuck Cooper and Sweetwater Clifton broke the color barrier for black players.
  5. ^ Saffir, Douglas (February 11, 2012). "Jeremy Lin Receives Encouragement From Ex-Knicks Guard Wat Misaka, First Asian American in NBA". NESN.com. Retrieved November 22, 2019. Wataru Misaka, the first non-white NBA player and like Lin an Asian American, sent the Chinese-American point guard a letter of encouragement.
  6. ^ "A Nisei in the NBA: The Wat Misaka Story". Hokubei.com. August 29, 2008. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference wertheim20120211 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).