30HG Interviews | Kelly aka @Kuroemonba: Aussie hoops superfan and artist from Japan (Part 1 of 2)
If you follow Aussie basketball, whether in the NBA, NBL or on the international stage. There’s a good chance you’ve come across the art of Japanese superfan Kelly. Best known as ‘Kuroemonba on Twitter and Instagram, his art and devotion for Aussie hoops is appreciated by players and fans alike.
I’ve been lucky to watch the Japanese Men and Women’s National team on home soil, as well as seeing the Akatsuki Five compete abroad in FIBA Asia ’15. As a hoops fan outside of America I tended to gravitate towards international players. Through Kelly I got to see Aussie hoopers appreciated with a zeal I’d love to see more of. He had appreciation for not only our Aussie stars, but the overlooked and underappreciated talents of the game. Being a zinemaker and someone drawn to niche endeavours, I felt a kinship with Kelly’s #RealFanLife. He was my kind of hoops fan.
Kelly’s incredible output as an artist and podcaster evoked so much wonder in me, I suspected other people might be interested as well. He was kind enough to share his story.
Hello @Kuroemonba, tell us about yourself and your work?
First of all, thank you for having me for such a great opportunity. I’m Japanese, also living in Japan, and a huge fan of Matthew Dellavedova.
I draw illustrations of not only Delly but other Australian basketball players as a hobby. I’ve recently launched my own podcast sharing info on Aussie basketball for Japanese people.
When did your fascination with Aussie hoops begin?
Rio Olympic Games in 2016. Until that time, I think I’ve never watched a Boomers game. I started to watch NBA deeply from 2014-15, so I’ve already known about Delly due to the famous defensive performance against Curry in 2015 NBA Finals. In addition, the Boomers squad at the Rio Olympic games was impressive to me. A lot of NBA role players such as Patty, Ingles, Bogut and Baynes showed great chemistry. Especially Delly, looking like a totally different player than he does in the NBA and I realised that he was not only a hustle player but also a high-quality point guard. From there he became my top my favourite. As I followed him, I became interested in other Aussie players.
What leagues and tournaments do you pay attention to, how do you access the content you’re after?
These days, Aussie basketball players are spreading around the world including Japan. In the last season, I mainly paid attention to NBL (Matthew Dellavedova in Melbourne), B.League (Nick Kay in Shimane, Rhys Vague and Angus Brandt in Kagawa) and of course NBA. Especially OKC and SAS for the debut year of Josh Giddey and Jock Landale. I pay some money for the subscription of each league, but I could watch NBL games on YouTube for free, thanks to Yudai Baba coming back to Melbourne. Until his return, there was basically no way to watch NBL game in Japan.
Also I’ve checked Boomers’ activity such as Asian cup and Asian qualifiers for the World Cup in 2023 based on each streaming service, such as Courtside 1891 and DAZN (Japanese streaming service).
It seems you have some Aussie basketball merch, how’d you access that?
I’m always checking the official store of the Boomers and some jerseys were found on eBay.
I started to follow Delly after his first era in Cleveland so I still don’t have the authentic jersey from that time. Please let me know if you find it anywhere lol.
Who are your special favourites amongst the Aussie hoopers?
Of course Matthew Dellavedova, and recently I’m rooting for Jack White, Rhys Vague, and Tyrese Proctor whom I’ve chatted with on Instagram and all of them were very kind to me.
You’re an incredible artist. Do you express your artistic side outside of hoops illustrations?
Thank you, such words of praise mean a lot to me. I don’t show my artistic side at all without Aussie hoops. I think my enthusiasm for drawing comes from what I love to follow and support, so there’s no other outlet besides Aussie hoops for now. We make a New Year’s card every year and sometimes I draw something on the card, I think that’s the only another opportunity lol.
Have you had any cool interactions with the players?
Fortunately, Aussie players have at times responded and messaged for my
drawings on Instagram. I’ve especially connected with Delly from 2017 because he saw my Instagram and I met him for the first time when the Boomers squad came to Japan for the Asian qualifiers in 2018. He sent me white Delly1s before, his signature shoes with PEAK which I still love to wear when I play basketball. That was one of the happiest things thats happened in my life.
Tell us about your ‘Nigeruwa Hajidaga Dellavedova’ podcast?
First of all, I love to watch “role players” in the NBA. Such players have no guarantee of survival in the league, therefore they’re always in a struggle. Finding ways to contribute to winning by doing small things, and sometimes turn the game on its head. I love to see such moments, that’s why I watch the NBA and am rooting for Delly.
These days the amount of media sharing info about the NBA is increasing,
but they tend to focus on just star players. I want to create a place that people can talk about the “non-star” players, that’s the primary concept of my
podcast. In this podcast, I invite Japanese fans of NBA role players as guests and talk about their favourite players deeply.
The podcast consists of two parts. In the first half I introduce the latest news around Aussie hoops and Delly, then we chat about their favourite role players.
The title of the podcast comes from Japanese proverb “Nigeruwa Hajidaga
Yakunitatsu”, which translates as “Choose your battles wisely”. I felt the proverb reflected how role players fight and survive in the NBA. I included my favourite player Delly to complete the title.
Catch Part 2 of my chat with Kelly here
30HG Interviews | Kelly aka @Kuroemonba: Aussie hoops superfan and artist from Japan (Part 2of 2)
- Kuroemonba on Instagram
- Kuroemonba on Twitter
- 逃げるは恥だがデラベドバ [Choose Your Battles Wisely Like Delly podcast] on Anchor.FM
FIBA World Cup interviews
- Kelly aka @Kuroemonba: Aussie hoops superfan and artist from Japan Part 1 and 2
- Justin aka @justintbao: Travelling hoops fan from Asia
- Marcus Chu aka @neonmaninaction: TikToker and travelling basketball superfan
Read other 30HG interviews:
- Dean Lockhart aka @Karl_Malone_collector: Premier collector of Karl Malone trading cards
- Simon Valenzuela aka @dongmegatron: Premier jersey collector of Aussie NBA stars
- Australian NBA Tourism: NBA summer leagues and other pro-am summer events
- Australian NBA Tourism: Planning an NBA road Trip from outside the United States
