On Sept. 16, after a pair of National Basketball League preseason games wrapped up, four players came into the press room at Yoyogi National Gymnasium No. 2 in suits to announce something the nation's sport had never seen before.
They were there to inform the media members that they had formed a players association.
Yusuke Okada, a guard for the Toyota Motors Alvark Tokyo, proposed the idea and is the president of the group, which is officially called the Japan Basketball Players Association.