Short answers, pulled from the story.
Wataru Misaka was a Japanese-American point guard from Ogden, Utah, who became the first non-white player in the Basketball Association of America when he played for the New York Knicks in the 1947-48 season. The NBA, formed in 1949, later adopted the BAA's history and officially recognizes Misaka as the first non-white player in the league. He preceded the NBA's first African-American player by roughly three years.
Misaka helped the Utah Utes win the 1944 NCAA tournament, defeating Dartmouth 42-40 in overtime, and the 1947 National Invitation Tournament, defeating Kentucky 49-45 in the final. In the 1947 NIT championship game, Misaka held Kentucky All-American guard Ralph Beard to a single point.
Misaka played three games for the New York Knicks during the 1947-48 season, scoring seven points before being cut mid-season. He believed he was released because the team had too many guards at the time.
Misaka grew up in what a University of Utah magazine described as an era of "virtual apartheid." Restaurants refused to serve him because of his ethnicity, and neighbors would cross the street to avoid him. Nisei children were excluded from mainstream extracurricular activities and played in their own separate leagues.
Misaka declined an offer to play for the Harlem Globetrotters and instead returned to the University of Utah to earn a degree in engineering. He worked as an electrical engineer for a company in Salt Lake City and was married to Kate, with whom he had two children.
Misaka died on the 20th of November, 2019, in Salt Lake City at the age of 95. Among his later honors were induction into the Japanese American National Bowling Hall of Fame in 1997, induction into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, and the retirement of his number 20 jersey by the Utah Utes on the 22nd of January, 2022.