Ryukyu Golden Kings

Ryukyu Golden Kings (琉球ゴールデンキングス, Ryūkyū Gōruden Kingusu) are a Japanese professional basketball team based in Okinawa City, Okinawa. They compete in the B.League, the top-tier professional basketball league of Japan.^[1]

Ryukyu Golden Kings
Leagues	B.League
Founded	2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Arena	Okinawa Arena
Capacity	10,000
Location	Okinawa, Okinawa
Team colors	Champagne Gold, Steel Blue and Pearl Red
Main sponsor	Zenhoren
President	Tatsuro Kimura
Head coach	Dai Oketani
Championships	1 B.League 4 bj League
Conference titles	6 bj League Western Conference
Retired numbers	1 (50)
Website	goldenkings.jp
Home Away Third

The Golden Kings have won the Japanese national title five times, as they won the bj league four times (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016) and the B.League once (2023). They were also losing B.League finalists once (2022).^[2][3]

Honours

Domestic

• B.League champions: 1
  • 2022–23

• bj league champions: 4
  • 2009, 2012, 2014, 2016

Continental

• ABA Club Championship
  • 3rd: 2011
• East Asia Super League champions:
  • 2018

Players

Ryukyu Golden Kings roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Age F 4   Vic Law 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 28 – (1995-12-19)19 December 1995 F 7   Allen Durham 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 35 – (1988-07-09)9 July 1988 F 8   Yoshiya Uematsu 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 25 – (1998-12-18)18 December 1998 F 9   Hugh Watanabe 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) 25 – (1998-12-23)23 December 1998 G 10   Hayate Arakawa 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 26 – (1997-07-25)25 July 1997 G 14   Ryuichi Kishimoto 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) 33 – (1990-05-17)17 May 1990 G 15   Yoshiyuki Matsuwaki 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 26 – (1997-05-15)15 May 1997 F 24   Naoki Tashiro (C) 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 30 – (1993-06-24)24 June 1993 G/F 30   Keita Imamura 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 28 – (1996-01-25)25 January 1996 G 34   Shota Onodera 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 29 – (1994-11-06)6 November 1994 C 45   Jack Cooley 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 33 – (1991-04-12)12 April 1991 C 53   Alex Kirk 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 32 – (1991-11-14)14 November 1991 G/F 88   Hayato Maki 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 26 – (1997-12-14)14 December 1997	Head coach Dai Oketani Assistant coach(es) Takahiro Morishige Jō Kurino Makoto Higashiyama Legend (C) Team captain   Injured Roster Updated: April 2, 2023

Coaches

• Hernando Planells (2007–08)
• Dai Oketani
• Koto Toyama
• Tsutomu Isa
• Norio Sassa
• Hiroki Fujita

Seasons

B.League

^[4]

Season	Result	Regular Season Record (W-L)	Playoff Record
2016-2017	QuarterFinals	29-31	0-2
2017-2018	SemiFinals	42-18	2-3
2018-2019	SemiFinals	40-20	3-3
2019-2020	N/A	27-14	Playoffs cancelled (COVID-19)
2020-2021	SemiFinals	40-16	3-3
2021-2022	Finals	49-7	4-2
2022-2023	Champions	48-12	6-0

Key
	Champions
	Losing Finalists
	Made the Playoffs

Notable players

 

Convenience store in Okinawa

• Hilton Armstrong
• Chris Ayer
• Ira Brown
• Draelon Burns
• Mo Charlo
• Takatoshi Furukawa
• Lamont Hamilton
• Takumi Ishizaki
• Anthony Kent (it)
• George Leach
• Anthony McHenry
• Jeff Newton
• Evan Ravenel
• Bryan Simpson
• Dillion Sneed
• Reyshawn Terry
•   Kibwe Trim
• Terrance Woodbury
• Jack Cooley

Arenas

• Okinawa Arena
• Okinawa City Gymnasium
• Ginowan City Gymnasium

See also

• 2014–15 Ryukyu Golden Kings season

References

1. [Regarding the JPBL's "Division 1-3 Assignment Press Conference"] (in Japanese). Nishinomiya Storks. 30 July 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
2. "2022-23シーズン優勝のご報告". 琉球ゴールデンキングス (in Japanese). 28 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
3. "Ryukyu Golden Kings sweep Chiba Jets for first B. League title". The Japan Times. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
4. "順位表 - B.LEAGUE（Bリーグ）公式サイト". B.LEAGUE（Bリーグ）公式サイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 September 2017.

External links

• Official website