Players

Unlike other professional sports leagues in Japan and in Asia as a whole, the bj-league has no limit on the number of international players any one team can have. As a result, all teams in the league give at least 3 international players heavy minutes in their games. Not surprisingly, most of these international players hail from the Mecca of basketball, the United States of America.

One of the most prominent American players in the league is without a doubt the Tokyo Apache’s John “Helicopter” Humphrey. Humphrey is known for his extraordinary leaping ability (hence the nickname “Helicopter”) which helped win him the 2003 NCAA Slam Dunk Competition while he was at Middle Tennessee State University. After graduating, he signed with the AND1 Mix Tape Tour and played for the Boston Frenzy of the ABA before joining the Tokyo Apache. While in the ABA, Humphrey scored 65 points in a single game, the second highest single game point total in league history. He also won the scoring title in the first two seasons of the bj-league with an average of 23.2 and 25.9 points per game, proving that he is an unstoppable scorer when he’s on a roll.

The bj-league also boasts players who have played at top NCAA Division I schools. Nate James, currently of the Toyama Grouses, is a former Duke Blue Devil. In 2000-2001, James, with co-captain Shane Battier (Houston Rockets), led the team to their third national championship in school history. On a team loaded with NBA-caliber talent, such as Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz), Mike Dunleavy (Indiana Pacers), and Chris Duhon (Chicago Bulls), James averaged 12.3 points and 5.2 rebounds a game.

Matt Lottich, currently of the Osaka Evessa, captured the league’s assist title last year and is one of the premier floor generals in the bj-league. In his senior year at Stanford University, the team finished with an impressive 30-2 record. During that season, Lottich averaged 12.3 points per game, second only to Josh Childress (Atlanta Hawks). Lottich’s teammates on the Osaka Evessa include Lynn Washington and Jeff Newton, who played at Indiana University. In 2005-2006, Washington averaged 20.4 points and 11 rebounds a game, earning him the first MVP award in bj-league history.