How is the pro basketball scene going to evolve in Japan over the next decade?
Will the leagues make a concerted effort to raise their profile to the outside world, or will it be more of the same?
Growth for growth's sake may be one way of doing things, but is it a way to grow a sport to appeal to a greater percentage of the population?
A longtime observer of Asian basketball chimed in on the way the sport is growing in a big, bold way in China and how it's not doing the same thing here in Japan despite 12 NBL teams and 21 bj-league clubs.
"The NBL has expansion plans. The bj-league has expansion plans," the observer wrote in an email. "They know this is going to implode soon, don't they?"
On the other hand, the game in China, spearheaded by the Chinese Basketball Association's rising clout, is taking a much different approach.
"Meanwhile almost every CBA team here has one, if not two, former NBA players on the roster, the NBA plays preseason games here, and every major star from Kobe to LeBron visited in the off-season," the source pointed out.
"But at least the bj-league has partnered with NBA Dream Team (a mobile/smart phone game app) ... that will even things up."
Will the leagues make a concerted effort to raise their profile to the outside world, or will it be more of the same?
Growth for growth's sake may be one way of doing things, but is it a way to grow a sport to appeal to a greater percentage of the population?
A longtime observer of Asian basketball chimed in on the way the sport is growing in a big, bold way in China and how it's not doing the same thing here in Japan despite 12 NBL teams and 21 bj-league clubs.
"The NBL has expansion plans. The bj-league has expansion plans," the observer wrote in an email. "They know this is going to implode soon, don't they?"
On the other hand, the game in China, spearheaded by the Chinese Basketball Association's rising clout, is taking a much different approach.
"Meanwhile almost every CBA team here has one, if not two, former NBA players on the roster, the NBA plays preseason games here, and every major star from Kobe to LeBron visited in the off-season," the source pointed out.
"But at least the bj-league has partnered with NBA Dream Team (a mobile/smart phone game app) ... that will even things up."
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