The Next ASIAN NBA Stars are READY (Edey, Kawamura, Cui)

There are now multiple Asian players in the NBA this upcoming season. So can one of them be the next Jeremy Lin or Yao Ming? Let's talk about it. Let's run the clips. Boom right there. I would say the one that stands out to me, Andrew, is Yuki Kawamura hitting the corner three. And then he went and did the gritty with John Moran. All right, guys, we're going to go through the top players that are of Asian descent in the NBA. They're just this is their first season for them. So you know what? It's exciting. We'll see how they do. But here are predictions. All right, guys, make sure you like, subscribe, turn on your notifications. Check out Smiley Sauce on Amazon.com. Let's get to Yuki Kawamura first, Andrew. He went ham on the Japan national team. And then the Grizzlies, Andrew, who got two of the Asian players right now, they gave him a contract for about one point two million dollars. Right. And, you know, he follows a long line of a couple other Yuki's or Utah's that were in the NBA or, you know, played in the Summer League and G League touched the NBA, I would say. There have been a lot of short Japanese guards in the NBA. They didn't necessarily play a ton, Andrew, but it started a long time ago, like 20 years ago with Utah Tabuse. Yeah. And I would say, listen, at the end of the day of the Asian countries, Japan is producing the best guards. Overall, maybe the best NBA player. I mean, China, obviously, Jeremy Lin is Chinese American or Taiwanese American. But as far as guard play, point guard play, Japan's got it. Something they got good training out there. Whatever their systems are, they're cranking them out. Because, Andrew, growing up, Yuki Kawamura, the guy he looked up to was Yuki Togashi, who's five, six and played on the Dallas Mavericks Summer League team. I'll say this. He plays the most similar, in my opinion, Andrew, to J.J. Barea from Cuba. Yeah, and J.J. Barea, he won a ring with the Dallas Mavericks, guarded LeBron. I think Yuki is, you know, probably not a starter, but his IQ, his basketball IQ, his passing is so on point. And he's actually, this is crazy enough to say, he's so short, it's an advantage for him. How so? No, no, no. See, a lot of people think, oh, all the NBA players are getting so tall. I'm like, at some point when everybody's so tall, there actually becomes a space for really small, quick guards. Now, it doesn't mean they're going to dominate the league. It is hard for a short guy to dominate the league. But they get so low and are so quick and so pesky that they're actually able to do a lot. And as long as they're strong enough to withstand, you know, a lot of the bodying that they're going to get, I think Yuki is going to have a place in this league as a positive contributor. The reason why I compare him more to Earl Boykins and Jose Alvarado is because he's going to need to be a defensive pest and really get in there. It's a little bit different than Nate Robinson or Isaiah Thomas, where they were like offensive powerhouses. They're going to need to come in, Andrew, and do like, you know, just like Jose Alvarado, get a steal, make a steaky play. Basically, just be like a frenetic game changer defensively. Yeah, and you know what they call this? Like, or a term that they use is like disruptor. They have to be able to disrupt and leave their mark as they're in, because Yuki, even if he plays in the league, you know, he's probably not going to get 30 minutes. He'll probably get like a good 10 or 15. When he does that, he has to leave his mark and he has to be playing even at a different pace than everybody else. And when you got one player that's playing at a different pace, it can kind of throw off the other team. You're talking about like full court pressuring, getting an inbounds pass steal and things like that. Just throw them off, like get the deflection or something. I think he's also got to shoot around 38% and up from the corner, like on his threes. He got to shoot on the high 30s. Luckily, he has a very high release point and a high arcing shot. So as long as he works on that three ball, he's going to be able to shoot it. Hey man, I'm rooting for Yuki Kawamura. Clearly the NBA IQ is there, but you know, we'll see. We'll see. Hey, maybe he can be a good influence on John Morant, you know, because John might get some of that, you know, that Japanese like Zen calmness, you know, that maybe John Morant needs. Probably looking around the locker room like, yeah, we got a bunch of Asians this year. Oh, interestingly enough, Utah Watanabe played for them as well. He went back. That's true. Um, Keisei Tominaga, by the way. Memphis Grizzlies, they like the Asian players. I actually think there's a marketing play behind it because it's a small market team. So they need to generate more revenue overseas too. So obviously they're not going to keep players that aren't good enough, but they like the additional revenue streams. David, who's the other player on the Memphis Grizzlies? We're talking about 7'4", Zach Eady from Canada. Mom is Cantonese. Whoa. Cantonese mom still grew to 7'4". Hey, hey, hey. Do we have a picture of his parents? It's kind of hard to find, right? Pop up a photo of his mom. His mom is clearly full Asian. A lot of people have compared him to Andrew. Believe it or not, Yao Ming. Yeah. Boban Marjanovic. I think he's better than Boban. Rick Smith and his current NBA player comparison is Walker Kessler from the Utah Jazz. You know what? So I would say about Zach Eady, man, I think he's already, I've seen his defense. I've seen him already block a few shots in preseason. I think he's a presence too, man. Like in a different way, he's going to disrupt. Just his presence being there so long and strong, and he's not the fastest player, but for his size, he's actually got pretty decent foot speed. I mean, I think he's going to make an impact. Yeah. I actually believe that Zach Eady will average 16 and 8 in a season. What that means, when you average 16 and 8, you have a lot of 20, 10 games to even get your average. But honestly, I actually see him and Yuki as positive contributors on good teams. Like there's players where you're like, okay, you could probably put up 15 points on like a garbage team, on like the piston, something that has like no hope. But I'm saying like Memphis got hope. You're saying they're positional guys. You can slot them into a role and they will do that role. I think that Zach Eady is a dog. He's a workman. I do think he wants to make $100 million for himself and his family, and he's going to grab all the rebounds, do all the blocks and throw elbows into people's ribs if he has to. All he needs to do is play rough, tough, get some rebounds, get some blocks, get some hook shots for like 15, 20 minutes a game. Dude, Memphis is going to love him. Yeah. And he's another guy that Ja or Yuki can lob to. I see shades of, actually, I see a lot of Rick Smiths. I actually low-key see a lot of Rick Smiths. Play some Rick Smiths highlights real quick. They're playing great. Smiths underneath. Oh, baby. Rick Smiths. Inside to Rick. And he got it. Oh, yes. Ball is too deep and Childs realized it, but he doesn't grab it. So he lets him get that. And last but not least, Andrew, we've got from the Brooklyn Nets, Jackie Tway, or Yongxi Tway is his real name. Andrew, this is what interesting because he played in the CBA. And now he said, I'm starting my second career, you know, for NBA. Wow. And he's 6'8", Andrew. He's a 3 and D guy. Wings similar to Danny Green. Cam Johnson. Obviously, Mikael Bridges. But I think Mikael Bridges is beyond a 3 and D guy. Royce O'Neal. And honestly, I do see some Utah Watanabe in Jackie Tway's game. Yeah, dude. What I like about Jackie, though, he's 6'8". Got like a 6'9", 6'10", wingspan. Huge arms. He can shoot. He's kind of strong. He's kind of thick. Like, he's not like a skinny dude. He's got a little bit more meat on him than Utah Watanabe did. I think for him, he looks a little jittery out there still. He's got to shake it off, which I think those are just the nerves. I think once he gets comfortable, yeah, I think he can shoot the 3. He can kind of drive. But right now, he's going to have to get used to the pace of the NBA. It'd be crazy to see him, Andrew, be like a Davis Bertans. I don't think his offense will ever be as high powered as Davis Bertans. But his defense could be better than Davis Bertans. Yeah, yeah. And I hope that. I'm not sure. I don't really have a strong opinion on his IQ or decision making. It looks to be decent, but not way above and beyond. You know what I mean? Right, right. You're saying identifying spots of when to go, when to hang back. Yeah. You know, it'll be interesting to see. I mean, he's on the Nets, which is going to be the worst team out of all these. And he has the most room for improvement. Like, you know what, Zach? He's going to be... Yuki Kawamura is amazing at everything. You're just going to see of his height and his athleticism holding back. All right, let's talk about a player that, unfortunately, we just got news has just been waived from his contract. But man, he's a fan favorite. Keisei Tominaga. From Nebraska. I mean, they called him the Japanese Steph Curry. So he was signed to a Exhibit 10 contract, meaning that he was going to get, what, a good shot in the G League. Right. But they waived him. Right, right, right. So I think somebody is going to give him a second chance. He is a shooter. But it depends on the defensive side, because you got to be able to stay on the floor, and you got to be able to guard. I think here's why I think it's a big deal that Asians are in the NBA more than, in a way, even Asians are dominating the MLB, or a couple of Asians or a Japanese are dominating the MLB, or even in soccer or football. Obviously, young Hoku is the number one kicker in the NFL right now. I think it's because, Andrew, basketball is almost the last sport you'd think Asians are pro tier at. Would you agree with that? And I think it's the trendiest sport amongst Western youth right now. It drives a lot of fashion and sneaker trends. It's not positional. Every player has got to play both sides. So it's not like you can just come in and do what you're 10 out of 10 at. Everybody's got to do everything in basketball due to the nature of the game. Sure, yeah. And also, it's viewed tied in, I guess, with hip-hop culture, and maybe that's hyper-masculine, and people view Asian guys as, I guess, what, not masculine? Yeah. I mean, okay, I don't agree that these three players make up the same impact as Shohei Ohtani, obviously. No. That's not what you're saying. But you're saying that if they are able to be successful, if you're going to be successful, and you want to make an impact, a cultural impact. Listen, guys, baseball fans, I know. I know people are watching this and saying we're hating on baseball. I'm just saying the cultural impact is more within the NBA. People don't wear baseball shoes since Griffey. Yeah. Ken Griffey Jr. was the only guy who sold sneakers. People love NBA stars more than the other athletes. You know, I think NFL is up there. I think MLB is below. But NFL is very team-based. Yeah. So what we're saying is that it's important to have Asians in the NBA. It's important to have Asians in all leagues, okay? But as we know, like Shohei, obviously, shout out to Shohei. I mean, he's arguably the GOAT of baseball already. But either that or he's on his way. But when you're talking about cultural icons to the masses, the NBA still has it. I actually think that Asian guys breaking in the NBA is more similar to Asian guys' development in like all spheres of Western society. I think there's more allegories for it just due to the nature of the sport. Like I said, it's positionless. You could impact the game as a one. You could impact the game as a five. Yao Ming, Jeremy Lin, point guard center. David, I know it's selfish, but I just want to see one of these guys date like a kind of like a hot, like nine, like even a hot model. I don't even care if they date like, you know, an OF model. I'd say just go for it and get some press for it. It'd probably be Zach Eady. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just knowing he's a team player. Yeah, it would just be nice to see. Like, I know that, you know, I'm not valuing those women over good women. I'm just saying like, it'd be fun. It would be fun to see Zach Eady date somebody prominent. Maybe another cute WNBA player, perhaps. Do you think people view him as Asian? Because he does look probably slightly more Asian than not Asian. You know, he definitely looks kind of Asian, but he's kind of like one of those, you know, it's like Yao Ming being Asian. It didn't quite affect the regular person as much. It's really inspirational for the men, but it doesn't necessarily change how people treat you because you're not Yao Ming at all. Like you're further from Yao Ming than like, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you're a 5'5 Yao Ming, you're not Yao Ming. It's the size. Yeah, yeah. Well, anyway, guys, let us know what you think in the comments section below. I know there's a ton of shout out to Isaiah Wong too. I think he's like a quarter Chinese or something like that. And man, let us know what you think in the comments section below. Of course, shout out to Jordan Clarkson, Jalen Green, part Filipino. And there's some other players as well. Let us know what you think about the new incoming crop of Asians in the NBA. It's been a while since there was this many. Until next time, I'm going to hop out, boys. We out. Peace.