How Perception Becomes Reality
Yuta Watanabe is an incredible basketball player, but he was never able to realize his full potential in the NBA because he was always an "other"
This morning I found out that Japanese NBA player Yuta Watanabe is declining his player option and moving back to play in Japan. He is the first-ever collegiate player born in Japan to receive a D1 scholarship. His time in America was a struggle. Watanabe was pigeon-holed as a three-point sharpshooter, even though he could do so much more. Even his coaches and teammates doubted his abilities, all because he was "the other" and one of the few Asian players in the league. It led to him not getting much playing time and mental health struggles. You can't help but feel self-doubt when all the people around you are doubting you. It begins to wear you down and make you believe that maybe you aren't as good or talented as you thought, to the point where it negatively impacts your performance.
This reminded me of this excerpt from Michael Lewis' book The Undoing Project, a book about how people's judgments and decisions tend to be rooted in emotion, not rationality. Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets at the time, is known as the godfather of sports analytics. He said that despite all the data on Jeremy Lin's abilities, people could not believe that an Asian player could possibly be that athletic. And it wasn't only him and his teammates and coaches, the rest of the world didn't believe it was possible either, which is why "Linsanity" became such a global sensation. We were all, including myself, in awe of watching what we thought was impossible. But it was only impossible because so many Asian players were overlooked and never given a chance to shine. Stereotypes and systemic biases led us to believe it wasn't possible because we had never seen it before.
"But the reality is that every f*cking person, including me, thought he was unathletic. And I can't think of any reason for it other than he was Asian."
One of the reasons it was so important for me to produce 38 at the Garden about Jeremy's story is that I wanted young kids to see it, so they knew it was in fact possible. Because I didn't know if any other Asian or Asian American player would ever get the same opportunity to shine that bright again. Jeremy went on to play for nine NBA teams in his career, partially because of injury, but I believe mostly because he faced the same challenges that Yuta faced on every team, no one believed they could play as good as they were clearly able to play. Perception is unfortunately reality for many people.
That is why stereotypes about Asians not being able to lead in business is so dangerous. Because even when they are clearly leadership material, these misperceptions and preconceived notions will create doubt and second-guessing that will keep them from being promoted. Just because they're not the loudest in the room, does not mean they are not strong leaders. There is more than one way to successfully lead as has been proven time and time again.
I hope that Yuta finds peace and fulfillment in playing the game of basketball again back home in Japan, where he doesn't have to deal with the mental burden of being othered. Jeremy and Asian Americans don't have that option because this is our home.
Had no idea Yuta was leaving the league! He was so fun to watch. I hope he finds fulfillment in Japan; it sounds like Jeremy is having a wonderful experience back in Taiwan and reconnecting with his roots.
As a new-grad working his first job + a huge sports fan, I loved this piece. Appreciate the work you do to build our community up.
Well pointed out. It’s a sobering reality we have to deal with - for these professional athletes. or even for a recent college grad trying to create my career.
I’ve realized this often happens so subconsciously, that even when I it rises up to the conscious thought/become aware of it, the weight of fighting against the pre-established pattern of thought is so heavy that it requires almost twice or three times the efforts / encouragements / actions / luck to be able to climb out of that narrow thinking and swim against the current of doubt.
I do believe these actions we are taking now will incrementally shift the mindsets of our youth to the right mentality, and I can see there is hope.
I also hope for those who may have not been so lucky to have that positivity as an adult, to be able to have the courage, faith, and actions to climb out of any rut. Or even to just know that there are other places where they are accepted and can shine, and do not have to hold themselves to certain societal standards / systems that weren’t designed for our benefit.