Basketball: Bulls ink Japan national team star Kawamura to 2-way deal
The 24-year-old, who became a free agent after his National Basketball Association rookie campaign last season with the Memphis Grizzlies, impressed in five Summer League appearances for the Bulls, averaging 10.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 2.2 steals in 23.9 minutes.
Under the two-way deal, he will divide his time between the Bulls and their affiliated team in the developmental G League.
The 173-centimeter Kawamura last season became the fourth Japanese player to appear in the NBA after joining the Grizzlies on a two-way contract. He played in 22 games, averaging 1.6 points and 0.9 assists in 4.2 minutes.
In 24 games for the Grizzlies' G League affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, he averaged 12.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 7.8 assists in 31.0 minutes.
Kawamura previously starred for the San-en NeoPhoenix and Yokohama B-Corsairs in Japan's domestic B-League and was a standout performer for head coach Tom Hovasse's Japan team at the 2024 Paris Olympics and 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Mainichi
7 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Baseball: Ohtani hits 34th home run but Dodgers suffer another loss
LOS ANGELES (Kyodo) -- Shohei Ohtani homered for the second consecutive game, but the Los Angeles Dodgers' recent struggles continued with a 6-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. Ohtani's opposite-field, two-run shot off Jose Quintana, his 34th home run of the season, pushed the home team's lead to 3-0 in the third inning. The Dodgers, however, ended up losing for the 10th time in 12 games. The two-way Japanese star is now second in the National League home run race behind Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who homered twice in Sunday's 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals to push his tally to 35. Ohtani, batting second for the first time this year with Mookie Betts leading off, went 1-for-3 with the two RBIs and a walk at Dodger Stadium. The Brewers turned the game around by scoring three runs each in the fourth and sixth innings on their way to sweeping the three-game series. A pair of run-scoring errors by the Dodgers came after two outs in the fourth, leading to Clayton Kershaw's earlier-than-expected exit from the mound. The game ended when Betts lined out to center with the bases loaded after the Dodgers scored a run in the ninth.
The Mainichi
8 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Tennis: Osaka named to Japan team for Billie Jean King Cup finals
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka will be part of Japan's five-woman team for September's Billie Jean King Cup finals in China, the Japan Tennis Association announced Monday. The four-time Grand Slam winner will be joined by Moyuka Uchijima, Ena Shibahara, Eri Hozumi and Shuko Aoyama at the eight-nation finals of the premier women's international team tennis competition in Shenzhen. Japan skipper Ai Sugiyama named the team in an online press conference. "I believe that this is the best team we have right now," Sugiyama said. "We want to harness the strength of our team as we aim to reach the top." Japan will open its campaign against quarterfinal opponent Britain on Sept. 18. Defending champion Italy and host nation China are also among the finalists. The Japanese team qualified for the finals by beating Canada at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum in April, minus an injured Osaka.
The Mainichi
13 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Artistic swimming: Japan earns silver in team free routine at worlds
SINGAPORE (Kyodo) -- Japan took the artistic swimming team free silver medal at the world aquatics championships Sunday in Singapore. Japan scored 334.7232 points to earn a medal in the discipline for the fourth straight world championships. China won gold with 348.4779, while Spain rounded out the podium with 321.1328. It was a positive result for Japan as more than half of its squad were replaced after the nation, traditionally strong in artistic swimming, was shut out of the medals at last year's Paris Olympics. "We tried to finish as high as possible," said Tomoka Sato, 23, a Paris Games holdover and captain of the team in Singapore. In the team free routine preliminary round a day earlier, Japan was third behind China and Spain.
