Life, Basketball and Japan | Rising Suns, Hope 81 | Hope 81
Life, Basketball and Japan
March 02 2010 Filed in: Rising Suns | Hope 81
When I speak about Hope 81, people often ask me why Japan? To me, its sort of a no-brainer. I love it here! But I guess the idea of a guy from California launching a nonprofit organization in Japan might seem strange (or intriguing) to some, so the question deserves a better answer than that, right? Sometimes it turns into a long, complicated story with so many twists and turns, academic discourse overlapping with personal anecdotes. I wish I had a 30-second version, and trust me -- I’m working on it. For now, here’s a special blog entry to set the record straight.
My lifelong dream has basically been to move up and reach for success no matter what the odds are, or what people say. Dream big! Making it to the NBA has been on my mind ever since I was eight years old. And I’m happy to say, that dream is still alive today. Not as a player anymore, but as a facilitator for Japanese basketball to start gaining more interest from the League office, pro scouts, teams, media, etc.. Now my dream is to see the kids around me here in Japan find their way to the NBA someday. Whatever the odds, I’m ready to fight. Now you might be wondering, where does my inspiration come from? My own personal hoop dream started almost 25 years ago...
From Playground to the Playoffs
As a child, I spent years watching and learning from arguably the greatest point guard the NBA has ever seen -- Magic Johnson. Like many other kids, I would spend hours and hours at my local street court trying to copy his go-to moves, imagining myself in the clutch, hitting buzzer beaters, winning championships, living the NBA dream through Magic and his Showtime Lakers. Once during my high school days, my team had a special workout at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. It came just around the time when Magic was preparing for his return to the League after being diagnosed with HIV. He happened to be there, doing some personal training in the back of the gym. I heard from my coach that he was there, so I said I had to meet him -- no matter what! When I found Magic, I thought I would try to impress him by showing that I knew his old nickname from college (before he became known as Magic). I shook his hand and said “Nice to meet you, Buck” with a huge smile on my face. He laughed and asked me how I was doing. It was a short conversation, but one I’ll never forget. My first moment, up close with the NBA. Unfortunately, my next moment was not so kind...
Later that season, when the playoff brackets were announced, my high school team was the lowest-ranked seed in our Division. That meant we would face off in the first round against one of the top schools in Southern California. When we got word of the matchup, all we knew was that the other team had some star player who was highly recruited by all the big NCAA/Division-1 schools. And that the team we were going to play was Inglewood High. Maybe some of you know where this is going. Hint: the year was 1995.
Despite all of the hype, my team was actually winning by one point at the end of the third quarter! We were winning on the road, in front of a hostile crowd at Inglewood High, and one player on the other bench was not very happy about that: Paul Pierce. He brought his team back with a fierce defensive push in the final quarter, including a steal from my point guard which led to a drive down the middle of the lane, followed by an emphatic windmill dunk on the inbounds passer -- me! I wish I had that picture. Maybe Paul has a copy...anyone have his email? Lets make it a poster and sell copies for charity
Learning Life Skills
After high school, I went to Laney City College in Oakland, California. I spent most of my free time playing hoops at UC Berkeley, where I participated in intramurals and weekly pick-up games. It gave me a chance to run with top Pac-10 players and future NBA talent like Francisco Elson and Sean Marks. When I transfered to UC Santa Barbara, I spent time battling Gary Payton’s little brother Brandon for a spot on the team roster. It was a lot of fun, because he talked the game just like Gary did. Right before the season started, I broke my hand in a pick-up game in Venice Beach and my walk-on dreams were over...just like that. In a snap. All was not lost, however. Later that year, I went to a party and none other than Michael Jordan was serving drinks behind the counter. He was part owner of the bar, so he made a surprise appearance. I shook his hand, but it wasn’t quite the same inspiration that I experienced when I met Magic for some reason. But hey...I’m a Laker fan for life, so whatever!
When I graduated from UCSB, I moved back to my hometown of Long Beach, California and played ball at a street park near my home. I kept working at improving my game while battling with the toughest street players in the LBC. There, I got the name ‘Milk-Man’ for being the only white guy on the court. I guess its true what they say... while the other players tried to kill me, it only made me stronger.
Soon after, I moved to Japan and continued playing hoops with a local baller network called The Rockers at Komazawa Park in Tokyo, and a team called The Sunday Crew at Yoyogi Park. After Kobe scored 81 points in a single NBA game, he made a special promotional tour for Nike during the summer and stopped by my local street court in Tokyo. The court was packed with screaming fans. I shouted at his PR people, “Hey, I’m from Long Beach” and waved my throwback Kobe #8 jersey. Next thing I knew, Kobe was walking straight over to me with an autographed ball. That was incredible, and more incredible because I was meeting him at a court on the other side of the world. Maybe that’s why he reached out to me...?
Then in 2007, when I received my ‘Rotary World Peace Fellowship’ award to study for a master’s degree in Japan, I felt it was time to connect my sports background and passion for the game of basketball with something beyond sport. A bigger picture. A bigger dream. And the timing of the Olympics in Beijing (Summer of 2008) couldn’t possibly have been any better. I quickly began to rally my local community of ballers, volunteers, friends, networks, sponsors, and more, focusing on the first-ever Olympics in China as the biggest window of opportunity for our generation of streetballers to connect across borders in East Asia. I then put together a small group of Japanese youth basketball players and brought them to the Olympics. We visited Beijing as Youth Sports Ambassadors, participating in cultural exchange activities, using streetball and a common interest in the game of basketball as a bridge for conflict transformation. I think we were one of the only grassroots/civil society groups trying to put a positive spin on the Olympic Games, with all of the negative issues surrounding the Chinese government, human rights, environmental concerns, etc. Whatever the case, the experience was groundbreaking, and we gave it our best shot.
A Way Forward = A Luta Continua
With that momentum gained in Beijing, a year later I was able to land Japan’s first invitation to the QUAI 54 International Streetball Championships in Paris, France. The Michael Jordan-sponsored event is home to the world’s strongest teams, featuring national team members, professional players and street legends...and now Japan was at least going to be in the conversation. We lost, but the impact was made and we earned a second invitation for 2010.
Returning the initial question, why Japan?
Basketball has been a constant source of inspiration throughout my life, pushing me to work harder and experience more than I could ever imagine. Now if I can begin to share that inspiration with kids around me, and encourage local players to dream big in basketball and in life, maybe I can make a difference in their lives and help Japanese hoops grow to reach the highest level. And why not? Is there a better place to help grow hoop dreams? Once again, as I said in the last blog, basketball is the most heavily played and least heavily watched sport in Japan. Plenty of work to be done, that’s for sure.
Hope 81 Founder
Jason Hutson
0 Comments