Former Cleveland Cavaliers wing David Nwaba has emerged as one of the best players in Japan this season. Nwaba began his career with the Los Angeles Lakers after going undrafted in 2016 and made a name for himself as an impressive defender at the NBA level. He bounced around from team to team until 2022, spending time with the Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets, and Houston Rockets.
After spending two years with the Rockets from 2020 to 2022, Nwaba moved on from the NBA. He played in the G League for two seasons from 2022 to 2024 before making the leap to international ball. Nwaba spent both of his G League campaigns with the Motor City Cruise, the lower-level affiliate of the Detroit Pistons.
Now, he’s turned himself into one of the best players in the Japanese B.League.
David Nwaba is now a star in Japan
Following his two years with the Cruise, Nwaba signed with the London Lions in the British BBL. However, he only played in London for a single season before making the jump to Japan.
He inked a deal with the San-en NeoPhoenix and has been there for the past two seasons. And while his first year was impressive, he’s taken a big leap this year.
So far this season, Nwaba has appeared in 20 games for the NeoPhoenix, starting 14 of them and playing 30.9 minutes per contest. He’s playing the most minutes on the team, barely edging out Yante Maten (who is at 30.7).
In those appearances, Nwaba is averaging 20.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.0 blocks while shooting 54.6% from the floor and 36.2% from deep on 3.5 three-point attempts per contest.
He’s joined by a few other former NBA players averaging a ton of points atop the Japanese B.League this season. Ex-Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jarrett Culver is leading the league with 24.6 points, and Stanley Johnson and Sekou Doumbouya are playing well, too.
Nwaba’s one season with the Cavaliers was a relatively notable one for the now-veteran wing. He played pretty regular minutes for the Cavs that year.
However, that Cavs team wasn’t ready to get back to the playoffs post-LeBron James quite yet. In fact, Nwaba never managed to make the postseason a single time in his six-year NBA career.
Luckily for him, he’ll have a chance to help the NeoPhoenix in a much different capacity now. He’s no longer a role player. Nwaba is a superstar.