A pair of new expansion teams, the Miyazaki Shining Suns and the Shimane Susanoo Magic, join the bj-league's Western Conference this season.
Former Japan national team coach Zeljko Pavlicevic, a two-time Euroleague-champion coach, returns to Japan after a four-year absence to lead Shimane.
Among the West's nine head coaches, only two of them were at their respective jobs a year ago today: the Ryukyu Golden Kings' Dai Oketani and the Rizing Fukuoka's Tadaharu Ogawa.