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The First Non-White NBA Player
Today, the NBA (National Basketball Association) is a basketball league of diversity, where men of all races are represented and competing. However, in its early days, the league was very monolithic as only white men were permitted to play. The first man to break this norm was Wataru Misaka, who was a Japanese American.
Early Years
Wataru Misaka was born in 1923, to first-generation Japanese American immigrant parents in Utah. Misaka’s father was a barber in the small town of Ogden and his family lived in a small space above his father’s barbershop. Misaka’s childhood was shaken when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Many Japanese Americans were deemed a potential enemy of the state and were forced to give up their lives and put in internment camps. Lucky for Misaka, his family was able to avoid the camp because there were not many Japanese Americans in Utah. However, Misaka faced harsh racism from those around him.
College Years
Misaka was very athletic and despite his height of 5'7", was an excellent basketball player from a young age. He was inspired by the Harlem Globetrotters, which was an all-black performance basketball team. He led his team to the Utah state championship as…
