Kenichi Sako

Sako in 2015
Levanga Hokkaido
Title	Head coach
League	Japanese B.League
Personal information
Born	(1970-07-17)July 17, 1970 (age 55) Iwakuni, Yamaguchi, Japan
Listed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Listed weight	172 lb (78 kg)
Career information
High school	Hokuriku
College	Chuo University
Playing career	1993–2011
Position	Point guard
Coaching career	2014–present
Career history
Playing
1993–2002	Isuzu Motors Giga Cats
2002–2011	Aisin SeaHorses Mikawa
Coaching
2014–2017	Hiroshima Dragonflies
2017–2021	Japan national basketball team (assistant)
2021–present	Levanga Hokkaido
Career highlights
As player: 12×Emperor's Cup winner (1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002–2004, 2007–2010) 9×JBL champion (1995–1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008) 3× JBL MVP (1995, 1996, 2000) 9× JBL Best Five (1995–2003) 2× JBL 3point field goals leader (1997, 2001) 2× JBL assists leader (1993, 1994) Japanese Inter High School champion (1998)
FIBA Hall of Fame
Medals Men'sbasketball Representing Japan Asian Games 1994 Hiroshima Japan Summer Universiade 1995 Fukuoka Japan FIBA Asia Champions Cup 1996 Manila Isuzu Lynx

Kenichi Sako (佐古 賢一, born 17 July 1970) is a Japanese formerbasketball player and current coach.^[1] Nicknamed"Mr. Basketball", Sako played aspoint guard and is widely regarded as one of the best Japanese players in history,^[2] having won twelveEmperor's Cup titles and nineJBL championships. Representing theJapan national team, Sako played at oneFIBA World Cup in 1998, and won one silver and one bronze medal at theFIBA Asia Cup. He was enshrined into theFIBA Hall of Fame in 2020, becoming the first Japanese player to be inducted.^[3]

After leading his high school team to the national championship in 1998, Sako began his career with theIsuzu Motors Giga Cats, where he played for nine seasons. His second team were theSeaHorses Mikawa.^[4]

• Highlights

This biographical article relating to a Japanese basketball figure is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information.

• v
• t
• e

• 1970 births
• Living people
• Akita Isuzu/Isuzu Motors Lynx/Giga Cats players
• Hiroshima Dragonflies coaches
• Japanese men's basketball players
• Japan national basketball team coaches
• Basketball players at the 1994 Asian Games
• Basketball players at the 2006 Asian Games
• Asian Games bronze medalists for Japan
• Japanese basketball coaches
• SeaHorses Mikawa players
• 1998 FIBA World Championship players
• Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games
• People from Iwakuni, Yamaguchi
• Sportspeople from Yamaguchi Prefecture
• Summer World University Games medalists in basketball
• FISU World University Games silver medalists for Japan
• Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade
• FIBA Hall of Fame inductees
• Point guards
• Asian Games bronze medalists in basketball
• Japanese basketball biography stubs

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from March 2020
• All stub articles