Former Japanese American Basketball Star Inspired On And Off The Court

Wataru "Wat" Misaka was known as a better bowler than basketball player in his hometown of Ogden, Utah. But it was his skills on the court that would lead to college success and ultimately a historic contract with the New York Knicks, making him the first nonwhite professional basketball player in the NBA.
The 95-year-old Misaka, who died Wednesday, is being remembered this week for the hope he inspired both on and off the court, especially during a particularly painful chapter in American history.
Misaka's parents ran a barbershop in the railroad town of Ogden, north of Salt Lake City. He was a natural athlete, said Bruce Johnson, who got to know him while making the 2010 documentary, Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story. He loved all kinds of sports, including tennis, golf and one Johnson wasn't expecting.
"It was interesting for us when we started touring with the film, there was all these people in the Japanese community who knew Wat strictly as a bowler," Johnson said, adding that Misaka was added to the Japanese American National Bowling Hall of Fame in 2001. "So to hear the story that he was a famous basketball player, they were like, 'Oh, I had no idea.' "