is a Japanese professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Texas Legends The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

University of Tsukuba is a public university, public research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. It is a top 10 Designated National University, and was ranked Type A by the Japanese government as part of the Top Global University Pro ...

. Baba has been a member of the

Japan men's national basketball team The Japan national basketball team is administered by the Japan Basketball Association (JBA), (Japanese: 日本バスケットボール協会, ''Nihon Basukettobōru Kyōkai''). At the 1936 founding member of FIBA Asia, Japan has one of Asi ...

High school career

Baba played at Toyama Daiichi High School where his father, Toshiharu Baba, was the head coach at that time.

College career

Baba played for the men's basketball team of the

. In 2015, he was a part of the team that won the 67th

All Japan Intercollegiate Basketball Championship All Japan Intercollegiate Basketball Championship (全日本大学バスケットボール選手権大会 ''zen nippon daigaku Basukettoboru senshuken taikai'') is an annual nationwide intercollegiate basketball tournament. It is the largest scale ...

. In 2016, Baba, along with teammate Shusuke Ikuhara, received the best player award as Tsukuba won the 68th All Japan Intercollegiate Basketball Championship for the third time in a row.

Professional career

Alvark Tokyo (2017–2019)

On June 30, 2017, Baba joined the

Alvark Tokyo Alvark Tokyo is a Japanese professional basketball team located in Tokyo. The team, which is sponsored by Toyota, currently plays in the Japanese B.League. Until 2000, the team was known as the Toyota Pacers. Founded as Toyota Pacers in 1948, ...

of the

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that w ...

. On November 17, he scored a career-high 22 points on 50 percent shooting from the field, to go along with seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block across 27 minutes in an 81–76 loss to

Levanga Hokkaido Levanga Hokkaido is a Japanese professional basketball team based in the city of Sapporo on the island of Hokkaido. The club was founded in 2006 as ''Rera Kamuy Hokkaido'', this name comes from the language of the Ainu, an ethnic group indigenou ...

. On December 24, Baba had 14 points and a career-high three blocks in a 62–60 loss to the Hitachi Sun Rockers. Baba helped Tokyo defeat the

Chiba Jets Funabashi Chiba Jets Funabashi ( ja, 千葉ジェッツふなばし) is a Japanese professional basketball team located in Funabashi, Chiba. The team joined the JBL Super League in 2005 and currently competes in the B.League. The 31,000sqm Lala Arena To ...

to claim their first B.League championship title, tallying 14 points and three steals in the final game. Following his impressive debut season, Baba was named Newcomer of the Year. On October 17, 2018, Baba scored nine points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out a career-high 10 assists and tacked on three steals in a 79–74 loss to

Link Tochigi Brex Utsunomiya Brex is a Japanese professional basketball team based in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. After winning the JBL 2 in 2008, the team played in the National Basketball League. In July 2015 it was announced that the team would compete in t ...

. On December 23, Baba had 21 points, three rebounds and five assists in a 69–68 victory against the

Yokohama B-Corsairs The are a Japanese professional basketball team. Following the team's establishment in 2010, they participated in the Eastern Conference of the bj league for five seasons and in 2013 became the first team based in the Kanto region of Japan to wi ...

. He recorded a career-high in playing efficiency rating with 28. On February 1, 2019, he grabbed a career-high nine rebounds versus the Fukuoka Rizing. On March 30, Baba had a career-high six steals in a win against the

Akita Northern Happinets The Akita Northern Happinets are a Japanese professional basketball team based in Akita that competes in the Eastern Conference of the First Division of the B.League. The team was formed as an expansion team of the bj league in 2010 and found succ ...

. Baba led Tokyo to back-to-back championship titles. He was eventually named B.League Final MVP, after logging 12 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals in the final game against the

. Baba was also named the season's Best Sixth Man.

Texas Legends (2019–2020)

On September 19, 2019, Baba signed with the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). On October 12, he was waived by the Mavericks. On October 26, Baba was included in the training camp roster of the

, the

G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

affiliate of the Mavericks. He was later included in the opening night roster of the Legends. In the G League, Baba played in 41 games, averaging 6.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals in 19.6 minutes per game. For his efforts of becoming the first Japanese player to make it from the

to the NBA, Baba was given the B.League's Break the Border award.

Melbourne United (2020–2021)

On July 19, 2020, Baba signed with

Melbourne United Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...

of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). On February 22, 2021 Baba posted an NBL career-high 17 points, four rebounds and three assists in an 88–81 win over the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Conventio ...

. Baba helped the United return to the

NBL Grand Final The NBL Grand Final is the championship series of the National Basketball League (NBL). The entrants are determined by the victors of the two Semi Finals series, who engage in a best-of-five game series to determine the league champion. The win ...

, where they faced the defending champions, the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at RAC Arena, known colloquially as "The Jungle". Afte ...

. In Game 2, Baba scored 15 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out one assist in an 83–74 win, helping the team take a 2–0 series lead. In Game 3, he tallied 11 points, two rebounds and an assist, helping the United win the NBL championship title. Baba was named Melbourne United Defensive Player of the Year for tallying 31 steals and nine blocks across the season. He was also the recipient of the club’s SHARE Award, an honor that is voted on by the playing group after each game that goes to the player who best upholds the squad’s values.

Return to Texas (2021–2022)

On October 22, 2021, Baba signed with the

of the

, reuniting him with his former team. On December 23, Baba announced that he tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and would be sidelined for 4 to 6 weeks.

Return to Melbourne (2022)

On March 23, 2022, Baba signed with

for the

2021–22 NBL season The 2021–22 NBL season was the 44th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams are contesting in the 2021–22 season, which commenced on 3 December 2021. Australian broadcast rights to the ...

Third stint with Texas Legends (2022–present)

On November 3, 2022, Baba was named to the opening night roster for the

National team career

Baba has played for the Japanese national team. At the

2017 FIBA Asia Cup The 2017 FIBA Asia Cup (formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship) was the 29th continental basketball championship in Asia. The tournament was organised by FIBA Asia. It took place from 8 to 20 August 2017, a week earlier from the initial sche ...

, Baba averaged 5.5 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He was also Japan's best free throw shooter with 100 percent free throw percentage. At the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, he logged an average of 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Baba was also a member of the national team that competed at the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 FIBA World Ch ...

. His tournament highlights included a team-high 18-point and 3-steal outing in a 98–45 loss to

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, outperforming Japanese

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

players

Rui Hachimura is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs and is a member of the Japanese national team. Listed at and 230 ...

and Yuta Watanabe who had four and nine points, respectively. Baba played in all five games, averaging 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals.

Player profile

Baba is known for his signature move, a slam dunk dubbed "Baba Boom" by the media and fans. NBL commentator and former player Corey "Homicide" Williams gave Baba the moniker "Tokyo Drift" for his speed.

Personal life

On July 1, 2021, Baba announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

his marriage to Japanese actress

Kanna Mori is a Japanese actress. She is best known as Natsumi Hikari, the female lead in the ''Kamen Rider Decade'' television series and films. She worked under the stage name from June 2017 to June 2021. Personal life On July 1, 2021, Mori announced h ...

. Baba's father, Toshiharu Baba, played for Japan's national team from the 1970s until the 80s. Baba attended the School of Health and Physical Education during his time at the

References

External links

Yudai Baba
at nbl.com.au
Yudai Baba
at gleague.nba.com
Yudai Baba at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup
at fiba.basketball
Yudai Baba at the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers
at fiba.basketball
Yudai Baba at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup
at fiba.basketball {{DEFAULTSORT:Baba, Yudai 1995 births Living people 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Alvark Tokyo players Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Expatriate basketball people in Australia Japanese expatriate basketball people in the United States Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Australia Japanese men's basketball players Melbourne United players Olympic basketball players of Japan People from Toyama (city) Shooting guards Sportspeople from Toyama Prefecture Texas Legends players