It seemed only fitting that a throng of Japanese videographers, sound technicians, producers and photographers would deliver to Yuta Tabuse the news he has been waiting to hear since watching Magic Johnson play basketball on television as a young child in Japan.

Mike D’Antoni broke the news to the media, which included several crews that have followed Tabuse’s every move in his quest to become the first Japanese-born player to make it to the NBA, even before the 5-9 point guard was informed of making the opening night active roster. Tabuse will be in uniform on Wednesday night when Phoenix hosts the Hawks to tip off the 2004-05 season.

“It’s good for him,” the Suns' head coach said. “He worked hard and he deserves it. It’s a big day for him. The guy has worked his rear off and he deserves it, so I’m happy for him. It’s a big step for him.”

Soon after D’Antoni’s announcement that Tabuse would be placed on the active roster, the contingent of close to 50 Japanese media descended on the 24-year-old playmaker to let him in on the news and get his reaction to what all of Japan had been waiting to hear.

But, however significant this move will be to him personally and to the people of Japan, Tabuse remains focused on the task at hand, which is to keep working hard to get better and earn the minutes it will take to make a consistent contribution to the success of the team.

“I feel great now, but I’m going to keep playing hard,” he explained. “Hopefully, Japanese people will be proud of my station right now and hopefully will keep on cheering me.

“Right now, I’m going to focus on to win the first game as a team. I might celebrate tonight, but that’s it. I’m going to focus and look forward to working hard.”

Tonight’s celebration will also include Tabuse’s parents, Naoto and Setsuko, who were on a flight into Phoenix when their famous son received the good news.

“My parents are coming today,” he said. “I’m going to pick them up right now. I’m going to have dinner with them. They’re going to get tired because their flight is long, so I’m going to take care of them. They don’t know yet (about making the roster), so I’m going to tell them.”

Tabuse had two obvious and grand obstacles to overcome in his bid to make league history. No other Japanese-born player had made an NBA roster and very few players of any nationality that stand 5-9 have much of a chance at succeeding in the big man’s game of professional basketball.

The only way to overcome both hurdles was to keep working and not give up, exactly what the BYU-Hawaii product did.

“I thought he really worked hard,” said All-Star point guard Steve Nash. “He showed he’s a true point guard and those are hard to find these days. He had a really good summer league from all accounts and he worked hard this preseason to solidify his spot on the team.

“True point guards are hard to find and Yuta is a true point guard. He’s going to be a valuable part of our team and hopefully he’ll get a good year to develop.”

While Nash has had his share of publicity surrounding his return to the Valley, it is nothing compared to the enormous attention Tabuse has garnered from his home country, where he has been described as the “Michael Jordan of Japan” for the shear amount of attention he has received.

“He’s handled it great,” Nash said. “He’s got a tremendous responsibility to his country to be a pioneer and spokesperson for the NBA. It’s tremendous for everybody to have that Japanese influence in our league and it’s been tremendous the way he’s handled it.”

Tabuse recalls the impact that Japanese baseball players like Ichiro Suzuki and Hideo Nomo had upon their arrival to the American sports scene and is embracing the idea of doing the same in the basketball world.

“Ichiro is bigger than me,” Tabuse admitted. “He’s the most famous player in Japan, but I’m glad to be like Ichiro and Nomo for basketball in Japan.

“It’s good for me and good for the Japanese people.”

Shirley Staying

In finalizing the Suns’ opening night roster, the club retained the services of free agent forward Paul Shirley, who will join second-year forward Zarko Cabarkapa (left knee tendonitis) on the injured list to begin the season.

Unlike Tabuse, Shirley’s discovery that he will be sticking around was more a case of not being told to leave.

“It’s not so much a matter of finding out,” explained the 26-year-old, who lands on the injured list with back spasms. “It’s not finding out and not being sent home. If they continue to allow you to practice and give you a practice uniform, then you keep coming every day. So, it wasn’t a matter of somebody saying, ‘Come.’ It was not someone saying, ‘Go.’

“I would temper any enthusiasm in that I don’t know how temporary it will be. So, I can’t say that I’m jubilant because I can’t say if this is going to end in two days. But I’m obviously happier being here than at my house in Kansas City. It’s definitely a good feeling.”

Shirley was invited to training camp to fill the spot of fellow Cyclone Jackson Vroman after the rookie forward broke his thumb in a pickup game before the start of camp and impressed the Suns’ coaching staff with his overall play and energy.

“He deserves to be on an NBA team somewhere,” D’Antoni said. “Right now, it’s the Suns and he’s a good guy to have around. He reads books. He’s smart (laughs). He’s a good guy that you can count on every day. He has an NBA skill. If we need practice guys at the three or four, he can do both. He can just play basketball and it’s nice to have him around.”

Shirley’s teammates appreciate the hard-nosed play the 6-10 forward provides in practice every day and are happy that he will be around for a while longer.

“He’s a great guy to be around, on and off the court,” said forward Amaré Stoudemire. “He can shoot the ball from the perimeter. He’s going to come in and work hard. He’ll crash the boards, do all the dirty work and do whatever it takes.”

A four-time recipient of the Iowa State Athletic Council Scholar Athlete award, Shirley is smart enough to realize that his place on the roster is not necessarily a permanent post. There is cause for optimism as this is the first time in four tries he has made it to opening night still on an NBA roster.

“After having done this four times, the one thing I’ve learned is that you never know exactly what the scenario is going to be when you go into it,” he said. “You kind of wait for things to happen and hope to be in the right place at the right time when they do.

“This is the first time that I’ll be on the opening day roster of some kind. Whether it’s on the active list or injured list, or whatever, it doesn’t matter. But, that is a step in the right direction, that’s definitely true.”