B League, Japan Professional Basketball 🏀

The B.League is a professional men's basketball league in Japan. It was established in 2016 as a result of the merger of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the bj league, and it is currently the top tier of basketball in Japan. The B.League is comprised of three divisions: the first division, known as B1, the second division, known as B2, and the third division, known as B3.

The B.League has teams from all over Japan, including cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. The teams compete in a double round-robin format, with each team playing every other team in their division twice during the regular season. The top teams from each division advance to the playoffs, where they compete for the league championship.

In addition to its domestic competition, the B.League also participates in international competitions such as the FIBA Asia Champions Cup and the Basketball Japan League Cup. The league has seen a rise in popularity in recent years, with more and more Japanese players joining the league and competing at a high level.

Overall, the B.League is an important part of Japanese basketball and is helping to raise the profile of the sport in the country. And this can especially be seen in Gunma Prefecture where I live. They have pumped major investments into the sport by building a new world class basketball 🏀 stadium and they have allotted a budget to create basketball courts all around the base city ( Ota City ) to boost the popularity of basketball.

The Gunma Crain Thunders

The Gunma Crane Thunders is a professional basketball team based in Ota City, Gunma, Japan. They compete in the B.League

The Gunma Crane Thunders have a strong reputation for player development, with many talented young players joining the team and growing their skills under the guidance of experienced coaches and veteran players. The team plays its home games at the Ota Sports park which has a capacity of 4,000 spectators.

The team has a player that many may not know about outside of Japan, but you definitely have heard of his brother Hachimura Rui. Allen Hachimura is a star player on the Gunma Crain Thunders team but what is left to be seen is if he will also be an NBA star, they say lightening doesn’t strike the same place twice but thunder sometimes echos. Below is a vid I got of Allen during the halftime as he was practicing.

Something to Do On the Weekends

On the topic of boosting the sport in city and Japan in general, tickets are very easy to come by for free…… for now. I received two hoop side passes through a friend whose company sponsors the team and then I got an invite from a friend who works for the city who received 4 passes. My theory is they are getting everyone used to the games and at some point it won’t be so easily accessible.

Last Saturday I watched the Gunma Craine Thunders play the Mikawa Sea Horses. I watched the game on the 2/4 in which Gunma won 87 to 72. They also played a match on Sunday 2/5 in which they won again.

https://twitter.com/gunmacrane3ders/status/1621872239443574785?s=46&t=rFrxJkyMbRwz7C0NFfs_Kg

Source

https://twitter.com/gunmacrane3ders/status/1622229293941293057?s=46&t=rFrxJkyMbRwz7C0NFfs_Kg

Source

I look forward to many more games in the weeks ahead as it is exciting to see the professionals play, the cheerleaders are hot and the food trucks outside provide a good variety of food. If you are in Japan, or plan to to visit, check out a B league game.

Edit: All photos are my own except the Twitter feeds.