Three-time FIBA Asia Cup champion and Japanese legend Asami Yoshida announces retirement following storied career
Japanese basketball legend, Asami Yoshida, formally announced her retirement from both professional club and national team play in a press conference this past Monday.
TOKYO (Japan) - Japanese basketball legend, Asami Yoshida, formally announced her retirement from both professional club and national team play in a press conference earlier this week. After a long and illustrious career for both Japan and her club, JX-Eneos Sunflowers, Yoshida says she has struggled to find motivation and will therefore move forward to the next phase of her life.
Among the highlights of Yoshida’s career is a Quarter-finals berth in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics with the national team. The 31-year-old has is one of the most successful players in Asia with a three-peat at the FIBA Asia Cup from 2013 to 2017 and the 2016 Olympic run was another grand achievement that Yoshida was able to add to her résumé. It was also one of the reasons that helped factor her decision to retire from the game as a player.
"The Rio Olympics was one of the big goals for me personally, and as we accomplished something to a certain degree, I haven’t been as motivated as I should," Yoshida said, as quoted by Kaz Nagatsuka of Japan Times from the press conference. "The national team is a place where you have to be determined. It’s not where you can be half-hearted."
Yoshida is one of the most storied players in Asian basketball. The 1.65M (5’5”) point guard played in 6 straight FIBA Asia from 2007 to 2017, each time resulting in a podium finish. She was also named to the FIBA Asia All-tournament team twice in both 2013 and 2015.
Her success with the national team was an extension from her glorious run with the Sunflowers, where she contributed for 12 league championships with in her 13-year career. The 2011-2012 WJBL MVP had already started to consider retirement as early as the 2017-2018 season, but waited to gauge her feelings again this year.
"I wanted to wait until the finals were over to make sure I really wanted to do it," said Yoshida, as quoted by Kaz Nagatsuka (Japan Times). "When the buzzer rang in the end, I did feel I should retire."
That final buzzer did not only sound to announce the Sunflowers claiming their 11th straight championship, but also the end of Yoshida’s playing career. Though she will no longer be a player, Yoshida hopes to continue to have a part in building up her beloved sport in the country.
"I would like to grow basketball into a more major sport, which I feel like I could not fully do as a player," Yoshida added.
Whichever role Yoshida takes during her post-playing career in basketball, fans can be sure that she will pour in 120 percent of her soul to make Japan basketball better just as she has done as one of the best to play.
Photos by YOSHIO KATO
FIBA