The Chiba Jets on Tuesday said star signing Yuta Watanabe is expected to miss six weeks with a sprained left ankle after getting hurt in the second game of the team’s season-opening back-to-back against the Utsunomiya Brex.
The Japanese Olympic men’s basketball team forward is playing his first season in the domestic B-League after a six-year NBA career, including stints with the Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors.
Chiba Jets forward Yuta Watanabe (facing camera) is checked by team staff during the first quarter of a B-League basketball game against the Utsunomiya Brex at LaLa arena Tokyo-Bay in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on Oct. 6, 2024. (Kyodo)
He exited late in the first quarter of Chiba’s 80-61 win over Utsunomiya on Sunday at the newly opened LaLa arena Tokyo-Bay in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.
Watanabe had 16 points and eight rebounds in his B-League debut Saturday as the Jets beat the visiting Brex 91-84 in overtime.
“I’ll make sure I recover properly and be back on the court soon,” Watanabe said in an Instagram post.
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