Vincentian is professional basketball player in Japan

PROFESSIONAL VINCENTIAN/JAPANESE basketball player Nyika Nysanu Kyle Vohnnel Williams, has put his success at the sport down to hard work, dedication, commitment and focus.

Williams, the son of former New Democratic Party (NDP) politician Burton Williams and Georgina Williams, is the only Vincentian basketball player in Japan and plays as a centre for the Toyama Grouses in the country’s B League.

The former Kingstown Preparatory School (KPS) and St Martin’s Secondary School (SMSS) student’s rise to basketball fame is a story heard all too often- from going against his father’s wishes to play basketball, to taking the bold step of moving to Japan, a country with a language barrier and cultural differences that can easily give one the description as an outsider.

“In St Vincent and the Grenadines, we didn’t really play basketball. We played football, tennis and track and field, and every other sport, but not basketball,” Williams told SEARCHLIGHT from Japan via WhatsApp on Thursday, October 23, 2025.

He said that he was introduced to the sport by his brother, Burton Williams Jr who had gone to NewYork (NY) for school and joined a basketball team.

“…and he was like, ‘you could get a scholarship’. When he came back home he told me ‘come and play’, he encouraged me, and I went for it and tried out and that is it, it just happened.

“I was just competing with him and I wanted to be better than him so I went to NewYork and that was that,” Williams said, while noting that he left the SMSS in Form three.

The former Simon/New Prospect resident said at first that he was told that he did not have enough talent to go straight to college basketball, so he went back to high school in NewYork and worked his way up the ranks.

Despite him taking to the game, he admitted he wasn’t looking to pursue it on a professional level, but a coach, Louis Xaffari, told him that he had a lot of potential.

“I was in junior year in college and he said I should focus and try, and in senior year I got in contact with an agent through my coach and that agent said there was a team in Japan that wanted me after they saw a highlight video and that is how I ended up in Japan in 2011,”Williams explained.

He said he has always loved playing sports and would get into trouble for playing too much while he was at the KPS.

“I liked Ambrose, Brian Lara. I wanted to be a batsman. I loved football, Maradona, no basket ballers,” Williams said, laughing.

He said it has not been always a bed of rose in Japan, and in life, and after his first year playing in the Asian country, he wanted to quit and head back to NewYork to look for a job.

“And now, its food on the plate for me. I wasn’t badly off, but there were days. So, being able to have my children be okay and comfortable, and my mommy always talking to me and saying she is proud of me and that’s all she wants is good for me.”

Williams said the birth of his son spurred him to be better at the sport, and after his son was born, he stopped taking things for granted and the goofing around stopped.

“I would enjoy myself too much, travel every other weekend and partying too much, but after my son was born, I buckled down and my game went to another level and I changed,” said the father of three- a seven-year-old, a three-year-old and a nine year old. He told SEARCHLIGHT he has played for different teams throughout the years and said that he stays on top of his game by using his days off to see Japan and travel to other Asian countries with his family, “just to refresh and get away from things. I also play video games.”