Wataru Misaka was an American professional basketball player.
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21 Facts About Wataru Misaka
2.
Wataru Misaka took a two-year hiatus between these titles to serve in the United States Army in the American occupation of Japan.
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3.
Wataru Misaka was born a Nisei in Ogden, Utah, to Tatsuyo and Fusaichi Wataru Misaka.
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4.
Wataru Misaka's family lived in the basement of his father's barber shop between a bar and a pawn shop in a bad area on 25th Street, which was rife with prostitution.
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5.
Wataru Misaka was raised in an era of "virtual apartheid", wrote University of Utah magazine Continuum.
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6.
Wataru Misaka was not served in restaurants because of his ethnicity, and neighbors would cross the street to steer clear of him.
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7.
Wataru Misaka attended Ogden High School, where he led the basketball team to a state championship title in 1940 and a regional championship title in 1941.
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8.
Wataru Misaka attended Weber College, where he helped lead its basketball team to two championships.
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9.
Wataru Misaka was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1942 junior college postseason tournament and, in 1943, he was named the Weber College athlete of the year.
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10.
Wataru Misaka subsequently enrolled at the University of Utah and joined their Utes basketball team.
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11.
Wataru Misaka was later drafted for World War II and rose to the rank of staff sergeant.
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12.
Wataru Misaka held Wildcats All-American guard Ralph Beard to a single point.
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13.
Wataru Misaka was selected by the New York Knicks in the 1947 BAA Draft.
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14.
Wataru Misaka debuted as the first non-Caucasian player in the BAA in 1947, the same year that Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line.
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15.
Wataru Misaka believed he was cut because the Knicks had too many guards.
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16.
Wataru Misaka said he did not feel any discrimination from teammates or opposing players during his time with the Knicks, but he did not mingle with everyone.
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18.
Wataru Misaka then joined a company in Salt Lake City as an electrical engineer.
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19.
Wataru Misaka died at the age of 95 on November 20,2019 in Salt Lake City.
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21.
In 2000, Wataru Misaka was featured in a landmark exhibit, More Than a Game: Sport in the Japanese American Community, at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.
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