If you’re from San Antonio, you’re probably a Spurs fan. But just because you’re a Spurs fan doesn’t necessarily mean you’re from San Antonio. In fact, there’s people rooting on the Silver & Black all over, including one dedicated fan from Tokyo, Japan.
Taro Kotani, 45, has been a Spurs fan since the early ’90s when he was 10 or 11 years old, he told MySA. Around that time was when the NBA began gaining popularity in Japan, and Kotani said they would get one or two games per week on satellite. That was the era of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and others, but there was one player that stood out to Kotani.
“I always thought centers were just big and tall and boring, but when I watched David Robinson play, he was the complete opposite. He’s big and tall, but freakish athletic. He’s dunking on everybody, blocking everybody’s shots, and … I was just shocked, I guess,” he said.
After that, he became a Spurs fan and even got the chance to meet Sean Elliott at a basketball camp in Japan in 1995. Elliott was the first player Kotani met, but he’s since met Robinson, Keldon Johnson and was even introduced by Tony Parker at an NBA Japan watch party in 2019 as the No. 1 Spurs fan in Japan.
“I never thought like what I’m experiencing would ever happen,” Kotani said.
His first visit was in 2004, where he donated money to Robinson’s IDEA Carver Academy. Over the years, he’s visited San Antonio so many times he’s lost track, although the estimate is more than 40 trips and countless games. Kotani does human resources for an insurance company, and although he said he can’t get much of a discount on air faire, he does get help from friends for hotels and Airbnb stays. He said, “As far as the total cost, I’ve never really thought about it, but it must be pretty, pretty massive.”
When he’s not in town, Kotani catches the games by taking an early lunch break since they start around 9 or 10 a.m. across the ocean. Over the past few weeks, he’s even held watch parties with a group of about 15 other Spurs fans in Tokyo — during Game 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, he said about 30 people came out and half of them were tourists.
Kotani is currently in San Antonio for the Spurs’ first NBA Finals appearance since 2014 and has attended Games 1 and 2 at the Frost Bank Center. He’s become well-known amongst other fans in the city, popping up at events, meeting former mayor Ron Nirenberg and even sitting with the Jackals. Of course, it’s the team that keeps him coming back, but it’s also the people in the city.
“The fandom in San Antonio, it’s crazy that the Spurs mean so much to the city,” he said. “And for me, as an outsider, as a foreigner coming into town, to have something in common with the locals here and have a similar passion as I do, that’s been pretty, pretty amazing.”
AloJapan.com