A few days before the Rio Olympics kicked off, Mototaka Kohama, the godfather of Japanese basketball, reunited with one of his closest friends.

Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey made a long-awaited visit to Japan to see Kohama.

The two men hadn¡¯t seen each other in nine years, though Casey frequently asks about Kohama via email and telephone conversations with his vast network of Japan basketball colleagues.