Tokyo Apache point guard Kohei Aoki will play in the ABA (American Basketball Association) Summer Pro League, the bj-league team announced. The 25-year-old Aoki, a bj-league All-Star last season, will play for the GymRats, a newly established team for Japanese players. The summer league runs from Aug. 4-18. Games are scheduled to be played at the Maywood Activity Center in Maywood, Calif. "This is pretty big for us having a team coming from Japan to represent in our ABA Summer Pro League," said Burrell Lee III, the general manager of the Maywood Buzz, one of the league's teams. "I have had the chance to meet a few of their players that have already played in the ABA the past two seasons. This will just take the level of (the Japanese) player to a higher stage."
