Michael Takahashi - Misplaced Pages

Japanese-American basketball player

Michael Takahashi

Personal information

Born

(1974-09-05) September 5, 1974 (age 50)
Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan

Nationality

Japanese (formerly American)

Listed height

198 cm (6 ft 6 in)

Listed weight

92 kg (203 lb)

Career information

College

Cal State Northridge (1993–1995)

Playing career

1995–2017

Position

Small forward

Career history

1995–2002

Isuzu Motors / Isuzu Giga Cats

2003–2004

Niigata Albirex BB

2004–2014

Toyota Alvark

2014–2017

Aisin Seahorses

Career highlights and awards

9× JBL champion (1996–1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2012)
7× JBL All-Star
2× Asia All-Star Team (1998, 1999)

Medals

Men's Basketball

Representing Japan
Summer Universiade
	1995 Fukuoka	Team competition
Asian Championship
	1995 Seoul	Team
	1997 Riyadh	Team
FIBA Asia Champions Cup
	1996 Manila	Isuzu Lynx
William Jones Cup
	2002 Taipei	Team

Michael Takahashi (高橋マイケル, Takahashi Michael, formerly Michael Dorsey; born September 5, 1974), sometimes called Maikeru Takahashi, is a Japanese-born American professional basketball player who was considered in the mid-1990s to early 2000s one of the best players in Asia, a prolific scorer and rebounder, dominating the opposition through his athleticism and technique.

Biography

Takahashi was born in Kokubunji, Tokyo to Ikuko Takahashi, a Japanese woman who now works as a computer programmer in Missouri and American actor Willie Dorsey who died sometime before 1995. Michael moved to the United States when he was 2 years old, settling in Los Angeles where he started playing basketball in high school. He is married and has two children. It was revealed that Takahashi has one younger brother, actor Jun Soejima.

Professional career

After playing in college for Cal State Northridge he moved to Japan after playing there in the Universiade. On arrival he adopted his mother's surname of Takahashi to integrate.

Takahashi joined Isuzu Motors of the Japan Basketball League for the 1995–1996 season and quickly established himself in Japanese basketball, winning the league title and being awarded rookie of the year and the first of many All-Star designations. From then on he would be a vital element of the team that won all but two titles until it withdrew from the league due to financial difficulties in 2002.

Takahashi would later repeat that success at Toyota Alvark where he won the title a further three times before joining his current team the Aisin Seahorses. He won his ninth championship in his first year with the Aisin seahorses.

National team

Takahashi became a mainstay on the Japanese national team starting with the 1995 Asian Championship where he helped the team win a bronze medal. They would do better at the next edition losing the final to South Korea which qualified them for the FIBA World Championship for the first time in 31 years.

At the 1998 tournament in Athens they were eliminated at the group stage, losing all their games although Takahashi finished as his team's best scorer with 16.4 PPG. After playing in the 1999 Asian Championship, the 2002 Asian Games and the 2003 Asian Championship (missing the 2001 edition due to club interference) without repeating earlier successes, his distinguished international career ended.

References

Athlete-Samos (1 July 2009). "日本バスケットボール界、こんな人いました！". Retrieved 18 January 2018.
^ "All-Star cager Takahashi moving on", Japan Times, 31 December 2002. Retrieved on 15 February 2015
Henson, Joaquin. "Watch out for Jap-Am", The Philippine Star, 2 October 2002. Retrieved on 15 February 2015.
Dr FingerRoll. "Exclusive interview with Japanese-American forward Michael Takahashi Dorsey", Basketball Telegraph, 15 December 2010. Retrieved on 15 February 2015.
"Dna鑑定で判明！副島淳の実兄は、バスケットボール元日本代表のレジェンド・高橋マイケルだった".
"Maikeru Takahashi player profile", FIBA. Retrieved on 16 February 2015.

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