1947- Wataru Misaka, first Japanese American pro Basketball player is cut from New York Knicks

Wataru Misaka was the first Japanese American to play professional Basketball in the highest level of Basketball in America. Misaka was born on December 21, 1923 in Ogden, Utah. His father emigrated to California in 1902 then moved to Ogden where he went to work for his mother’s uncle farming. He played for the University of Utah in 1944 and had been a valuable player to his team in leading them to the NCAA and was chosen by Ned Irish, the owner of the New York Knicks, to join the team. After playing three regular-season games in 1947, however, Irish decided to cut him. (Misaka- nicknamed “Wat”- had scored seven points during the three games he played in. Furthermore, standing at 5 ft 7 inches, people claimed that it would have been hard for Misaka to keep up with all the bigger guys on the opposing team.) Shortly after, Wat decided to enlist in the US Army. He spent nine months in the American occupation of Japan. He stated in an interview that the Japanese people [in Japan] looked at [the other Japanese American army soldiers] and saw them to be “very different.” Also in the interview, Wat said that he did not believe that his cut from the Knicks had anything to do with race. After participating in the Army, Misaka went back to the University and received a degree in Engineering.




Wat represents America’s growing acceptance of people of other races, as he was drafted into one of America’s most famous Basketball teams. Basketball is a sport intended to attract audiences and fans to come and watch the games; the famous, professional teams exhibit the country’s best athletes and in a sense is a representation of the country itself. Ned Irish’s act of drafting Wataru Misaka from Utah reveals America’s newfound willingness to accept people of other ethnicities as normal Americans to comprise the basketball teams who are displayed internationally to represent America as an athletic and competitive (and now, multicolored) nation. In addition, Wat expresses a sense of racelessness, as he disregards the fact that he is Japanese when he joins the US Army to aid in the American occupation of Japan. Even though joining the Army would mean participating in the opposing party against his own race, perhaps he disagreed with what the Japanese military did to Pearl Harbor, as did all other Americans. Despite all the weird looks and raised brows he received in Japan, his sentiment remained purely American.