Ira Demon Brown (born August 3, 1982) is a Japanese-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka of the Japanese

B.League The B.League is a men's professional basketball league in Japan. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that was operated by the FIBA-affi ...

. He had also spent three years with the Hirachi/Shibuya Sunrockers, as well as two years with the Toyama Grouses during his career in Japan.

Early life

Brown grew up in

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in and the county seat of Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 50 miles southeast of Dallas, Texas, Dallas. Its population was 25,109 at the 2020 census. Corsicana is considered an important ...

, in a three-bedroom house along with "roughly 15 relatives." The house burned down in a fire, forcing him to relocate to another home, though he often stayed with friends. When he was 14 years old, Brown moved in with his former youth baseball coach, Earl Mitchell, in

Conroe, Texas Conroe is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Texas, Montgomery County, Texas, United States, about north of Houston. It is a principal city in the metropolitan area. As of 2024, the population was 114,581. Since 2007, t ...

. He was eventually adopted by Mitchell.

College career

Brown began his college career at

Phoenix College Phoenix College (PC) is a Public university, public community college in Encanto, Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1920, it is one of the oldest community colleges in the country. History The college was originally a part of the Phoenix Union Hi ...

before transferring to

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places *Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy *Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily Surname *House of Gonza ...

in 2007.

Professional career

In 2010, Brown earned league all-star honors as a member of the

Coras de Tepic Coras Fútbol Club commonly known as Coras de Tepic is a football club that plays in the Mexican football league system Mexican Liga Premier (third-tier). The club was founded in the late 1950s as Deportivo Tepic and is based in Piedras Negras, C ...

of the

Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico The Pacific Coast Basketball Circuit ( or CIBACOPA), officially known as the Liga Chevron CIBACOPA for sponsorship reasons, is a ten team basketball league based in Northwestern Mexico. The matches take place from March to June. History A leag ...

(CIBACOPA). On October 2, 2024, Brown signed with the Hiroshima Dragonflies of the

. On November 10, his contract was expired. On November 14, 2024, Brown signed with the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka.

The Basketball Tournament

Brown played for Team A Few Good Men in the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

edition of

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-invitation, single-elimination tournament, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States, with the stakes being a cash prize (the most recent tournament in The Basketball Tournam ...

. In two games, he averaged five points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game on 40 percent shooting. A Few Good Men made it to the Second Round before falling to Team Gael Force.

National team career

He became a Japanese citizen after extensive language testing and a waiting period which took two years. As of 2018, he resides in

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. He was a member of

Japan's national basketball team The Japan national basketball team, also known as Akatsuki Japan (), is the national team representing Japan in international basketball competitions and is administered by the Japan Basketball Association (JBA), (Japanese: 日本バスケッ ...

at the

2016 FIBA Asia Challenge The 2016 FIBA Asia Challenge was the 6th FIBA Asia Challenge, an international basketball tournament of FIBA Asia which was hosted by Iran from 9–18 September 2016. This tournament served as the first step in determining the process of the quali ...

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran, where he recorded the most rebounds, steals and blocks for his team. He played 3x3 basketball for Japan in the 2021 Olympics.

Baseball career

Brown was drafted in 2001 by the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, and played in the minors for five years.

Career statistics

, - , align="left" , 2011–12 , align="left" , Toyama , 52 , , 52 , , 30.6 , , .475 , , .323 , , .625 , , 6.3 , , 1.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.9 , , 12.7 , - , align="left" , 2012–13 , align="left" , Toyama , 50 , , 48 , , 31.8 , , .537 , , .254 , , .658 , , 9.1 , , 3.2 , , 2.0 , , 1.2 , , 16.5 , - , align="left" , 2013–14 , align="left" , Toyama , 52 , , 52 , , 34.2 , , .523 , , .419 , , .650 , , 10.0 , , 3.3 , , 1.6 , , 2.6 , , 16.8 , - , align="left" , 2014–15 , align="left" , Hitachi , 54 , , 45 , , 27.8 , , .503 , , .364 , , .651 , , 7.9 , , 2.1 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , 13.7 , - , align="left" , 2015–16 , align="left" , Hitachi , 54 , , 50 , , 29.3 , , .506 , , .214 , , .667 , , 6.9 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.8 , , 13.2 , - , align="left" , 2016–17 , align="left" , Shibuya , 57 , , 44 , , 29.3 , , .517 , , .358 , , .597 , , 8.3 , , 2.5 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 13.7 , - , align="left" , 2017–18 , align="left" , Ryukyu , 60 , , 58 , , 28.7 , , .490 , , .409 , , .614 , , 7.0 , , 2.9 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 11.2 , -

References

External links

* *
Profile at Osaka Evessa

FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 Profile

Asia-basket.com Profile

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ira 1982 births Living people 3x3 basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's 3x3 basketball players American men's basketball players Baseball players from Montgomery County, Texas Basketball players from Texas Burlington Bees players Edmonton Cracker-Cats players Chiba Jets players Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players Gulf Coast Royals players Japanese men's basketball players Japanese people of African-American descent Japan national 3x3 basketball team players Olympic 3x3 basketball players for Japan Osaka Evessa players Sportspeople from Corsicana, Texas People from Willis, Texas Philippine Basketball Association imports Phoenix Bears men's basketball players Power forwards Ryukyu Golden Kings players San Miguel Beermen players Shreveport Sports players Spokane Indians players Sun Rockers Shibuya players Toyama Grouses players Naturalised basketball players 21st-century American sportsmen Hiroshima Dragonflies players Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka players Naturalized citizens of Japan