The Japan Basketball Association revealed the provisional squads for the men’s and women’s national teams and also the male and female 3x3 squads.
Head coach Julio Lamas on Friday selected 23 players for the men’s team, including Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura, the Memphis Grizzlies' Yuta Watanabe, who is on a two-way contract with the NBA team, and newly introduced Melbourne United guard Yudai Baba.
B.League stars such as Yuki Togashi of Chiba Jets Funabashi, Daiki Tanaka of Alvark Tokyo and Makoto Hiejima of the Utsunomiya Brex were also named to the Akatsuki Five's provisional roster. Naturalized players Ryan Rossiter of the Brex and Gavin Edwards of the Jets were put on the list as well. Big man Nick Fazekas, another naturalized player, was not chosen. He tested positive for COVID-19 in early July.