Basketball: Japan guard Kawamura joins Grizzlies in NBA

NEW YORK (Kyodo) — Japan guard Yuki Kawamura has signed for the Memphis Grizzlies, the NBA club announced Friday.

The 23-year-old, who has played the last five seasons at the Yokohama B-Corsairs, had agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract with Memphis in early July to participate in the Grizzlies’ training camp.

The team had the option of converting him to a two-way contract — which allows a player to feature for both an NBA team and its G League affiliate — before the NBA regular season begins in October.

The winner of the 2022-23 regular season MVP, Kawamura played a vital role for Japan both at the World Cup in Okinawa last year and at the recent Paris Olympics, where he averaged 20.3 points and 7.7 assists per match.