The Nets signed Cui Yongxi to a two-way contract in September and the Chinese forward quickly established himself as a fan favorite. He made his debut in the final minutes of Brooklyn’s 115-102 defeat of the Milwaukee Bucks last month and became the seventh Chinese player to step on the court in an official NBA game — a list headed by Yao Ming, Mengke Bateer and Sun Yue. Before Cui, no Chinese player had appeared in an NBA game since Zhou Qi played 19 regular-season and three playoff games for the Houston Rockets in 2017 and 2018. However, the 21-year-old Cui is not the only East Asian player who has piqued fan interest in 2024-25. Enter Yuki Kawamura of the Memphis Grizzlies, a 5-foot-8 guard from Japan who also signed a two-way deal with his club ahead of the season. Both guys have massive followings but come from different backgrounds. Cui lit it up at a Basketball Without Borders camp when he was 16, wound up enrolling at the NBA Academy in Canberra, Australia, and went pro in the CBA by 18. Kawamura, 23, started as a high school player at Fukuoka Daiichi in Japan, where he led his team to consecutive championships. He would later enroll at Tokai University but left college early to go pro. He was the youngest player in B. League history and was named MVP and Rookie of the Year in 2023. He led that league in assists in 2024 and also represented Japan in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Cui originally signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Portland Trail Blazers before he wound up in Brooklyn. Kawamura also inked an Exhibit 10 deal with Memphis, and both players have defied the odds and earned two-way contracts with their new clubs. And with continued improvement and a little bit of luck, perhaps both will stick around in the NBA for a while. Kawamura made some history of his own in Memphis’ 128-108 loss to Houston in October, as he became just the fourth Japanese player to make their debut with three minutes played. While Kawamura is still searching for his first NBA points, Cui knocked down a free throw against Milwaukee. Kawamura is the13th player in league history listed at 5-8 or shorter and the only player under 6-foot on an NBA roster this season. The last player to appear in an NBA game listed at 5-8 or shorter was Markquis Nowell, at 5-7, who made one appearance for the Toronto Raptors last season. Cui and Kawamura were both on the court in the final minutes of the Nets’ 119-106 defeat of the Grizzlies in Memphis last week, and there is a chance the two fan favorites will see the court again when their team’s meet at Barclays Center Monday night. Reports suggest that both players have been phenomenal locker room presences during their short times in the league. And given Cui’s long-range marksmanship and Kawamura’s flashy passing, both remain intriguing prospects to monitor going forward.