Born: Ogden, UtahCollege: University of Utah
The Jackie Robinson of basketball. Wataru was the first ever minority to ever play in the NBA. He would have gone down to be a great player but he was cut from the New York Knicks for reasons that were not known to him. He was a first round draft pick and had played great for the University of Utah and had lead them to both NIT and NCAA Championships.
After being cut by the Knicks probably because of racism he went back to pursue his degree in engineering.
Besides excelling in basketball he was also the captain of his high school football team, played shortstop, ran track and of course basketball.
"My father was an avid baseball fan and encouraged me to do whatever I wanted."
"I never know that I'm different. I only see what I see, and everybody else I see looks alike."
"I guess at the time I felt like it didn't have to be a reason"
"Being a minority, we learned to live with that sort of thing without complaining. So that was not anything new."
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