06.23.2019

Stephen Curry Brings His Brand of Hoops to Japan

The 2019 UA Basketball Asia Tour Kicks Off in Tokyo
(STAY CONNECTED WITH ALL OF THE ACTIVITIES ON THE 2019 UA BASKETBALL ASIA TOUR HERE.)

Golden State Warriors' sharpshooter Stephen Curry is in Tokyo for the official start of the 2019 UA Basketball Asia Tour. This trip marks his third time to Tokyo and fifth tour of Asia with Under Armour. Stephen kicked off the tour by heading to the cultural and business heart of Japan where interest and dedication toward basketball among youth is growing. Stephen returned to Toyo Eiwa Jogakuin, an all-girls middle school and high school that he visited last summer with UA, leading a clinic with students.

 

The students eagerly awaited his arrival and greeted him with personal notes on a classroom white board to welcome him back to campus, and he returned the kind surprise with a hand-written note he left behind. Stephen then stepped out onto the court to coach both the girls' high school basketball team and some of the brightest young stars in Japan, Hiroyuki Tominaga and Keijiro Mitani.

 

Stephen Curry coaching and encouraging youth players in Tokyo, Japan

Stephen Curry coaching and encouraging youth players in Tokyo, Japan

In a closed door session, Stephen walked the two Japan national basketball team players through drills and specific pointers on form and function on court. Both were lightly regarded when they were younger, and took inspiration from Stephen’s journey - now, that hard work has put them on the cusp of leading Japan into a new era of basketball. Stephen extended a special invite to Tominaga and Mitani to join him on-court the following day at his Underrated Tour powered by Rakuten - a series of basketball camps for underrated youth players that made its first international stop at International Christian University in Tokyo.

 

Stephen wrapped up the on-court coaching session with a sit down to share some sage words of wisdom in the pursuit of greatness.

 

"Growing the game of basketball is very important to me. I had people I looked up to when I was coming up and to have the opportunity to influence basketball players in Japan and across the world means a lot to me. Everyone's journey is unique, with different challenges and road maps. I encourage players to have self-confidence and an extreme work ethic to realize their goals, and know they can reach their full potential with whatever they put their mind to."

Stephen Curry

Before Stephen departed Toyo Eiwa, he received a surprise visit from Kenbu Iriki, a Japanese champion of Shin-kyokushin karate. Kenbu demonstrated the Kawarara-wari, the smashing of a roof material known as kawara. He then presented Stephen with a dogi, a traditional karate uniform and a custom black belt with his name embroidered in Japanese.