Why is Japan's women's basketball, proudest in Asia, so strong?
The Japan women's national basketball team beat the Latvia national team 98-73 in an exhibition match held in Yokohama on the 16th. Ilbong will play a second match against Latria at the same venue on the 17th.
The Japan Women's Professional Basketball League (WJBL) has already entered its off-season break. The Japan Basketball Association invited European powerhouse Latvia to Japan for exhibition matches to strengthen the competitiveness of the women's national team. The Japan national team also participated as a single team in a WNBA preseason in April. This is national team support that would be hard to imagine in Korea.
At the 2026 WNBA draft, genius guard Tanaka Kokoro (20), selected by the Golden State Valkyries with the 38th overall pick in the third round, put up 13 points and played brilliantly. Tanaka is 172 cm tall and small, but she beat European players with explosive speed and precise shooting.
Named the game's standout after the match, Tanaka said, "From start to finish we were able to play our basketball. I thought of myself as a scorer, so I played aggressively."
Tanaka is only in her first or second year as a professional by Korean standards. But she not only plays as a key member of the national team, she was also drafted into the WNBA. Tanaka is six years younger than national team member Park Ji-hyun, who succeeded in signing with the LA Sparks.
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