Ira Demon Brown (born August 3, 1982) is a Japanese-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who currently plays for the

Osaka Evessa is a professional basketball team playing in the B.League, the top-tier professional basketball league of Japan. The team is operated by the Human Group Sports Entertainment Company. The team is named after Ebisu. In July 2015 it was announced ...

of the Japanese B.League. He had also spent three years with the Hirachi/Shibuya Sunrockers, as well as two years with the Toyama Grouses during his career in Japan.

Childhood and Adolescence

Brown grew up in

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and an important Agri-busines ...

Japanese national

He became a Japanese citizen after extensive language testing and a waiting period which took two years. As of 2018, he resides in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. He was a member of Japan's national basketball team at the

2016 FIBA Asia Challenge The 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge was the 6th FIBA Asia Challenge, an international basketball tournament of FIBA Asia which was hosted by Iran from 9–18 September 2016. This tournament served as the first step in determining the process of the quali ...

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, Iran, where he recorded the most rebounds, steals and blocks for his team. He played 3x3 basketball for Japan in the 2021 Olympics.

The Basketball Tournament

Ira Brown played for Team A Few Good Men in the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

edition of

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

. In two games, he averaged five points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game on 40 percent shooting. A Few Good Men made it to the Second Round before falling to Team Gael Force.

Baseball career

He was drafted in 2001 by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, and played in the minors for five years.

Career statistics

, - , align="left" , 2011–12 , align="left" , Toyama , 52 , , 52 , , 30.6 , , .475 , , .323 , , .625 , , 6.3 , , 1.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.9 , , 12.7 , - , align="left" , 2012–13 , align="left" , Toyama , 50 , , 48 , , 31.8 , , .537 , , .254 , , .658 , , 9.1 , , 3.2 , , 2.0 , , 1.2 , , 16.5 , - , align="left" , 2013–14 , align="left" , Toyama , 52 , , 52 , , 34.2 , , .523 , , .419 , , .650 , , 10.0 , , 3.3 , , 1.6 , , 2.6 , , 16.8 , - , align="left" , 2014–15 , align="left" , Hitachi , 54 , , 45 , , 27.8 , , .503 , , .364 , , .651 , , 7.9 , , 2.1 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , 13.7 , - , align="left" , 2015–16 , align="left" , Hitachi , 54 , , 50 , , 29.3 , , .506 , , .214 , , .667 , , 6.9 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 13.2 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , align="left" , Shibuya , 57 , , 44 , , 29.3 , , .517 , , .358 , , .597 , , 8.3 , , 2.5 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 13.7 , - , align="left" , 2017–18 , align="left" , Ryukyu , 60 , , 58 , , 28.7 , , .490 , , .409 , , .614 , , 7.0 , , 2.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 11.2 , -

References

External links

Profile at Osaka Evessa

FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 Profile

Asia-basket.com Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ira 1982 births Living people 3x3 basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's 3x3 basketball players American men's basketball players Baseball players from Texas Basketball players from Texas Burlington Bees players Edmonton Cracker-Cats players Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players Gulf Coast Royals players Japanese men's basketball players Japanese people of African-American descent Japan national 3x3 basketball team players Olympic 3x3 basketball players of Japan Osaka Evessa players People from Corsicana, Texas People from Willis, Texas Philippine Basketball Association imports Phoenix Bears men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Ryukyu Golden Kings players San Miguel Beermen players Shreveport Sports players Spokane Indians players Sportspeople from the Houston metropolitan area Sun Rockers Shibuya players Toyama Grouses players