Introduction |
Masashi Kawata | |
---|---|
Name | |
Aliases | Bald Gori |
Characteristics | |
Gender | Male |
Birthday | October 23 |
Height | 194 cm (6' 4") |
Weight | 95 kg (209 lbs) |
Hair Color | black |
Eye Color | black |
Professional Status | |
Occupation | Basketball Player |
Team | |
Position | Center |
Jersey Number | # 7 |
Personal Status | |
Relatives | Mikio Kawata (younger brother) |
First Appearance | |
Anime Debut | The First Slam Dunk |
Voices | |
Japanese Voice | Mitsuaki Kanuka |
[v · t · e] |
Masashi Kawata (河田 雅史 Kawata Masashi) is the Center of Sannoh Industry Affiliated High School and is also known as Japan's #1 Center.
He started out as a small player, only standing at 165 cm but grew taller (25 cm) the next year, eventually claiming the Center position. He now stands at 190 cm in his 3rd year.
Personality[]
Masashi is jealous of Sawakita's popularity with the girls to the point that he will grip Sawakita's legs, making him cry in pain. He always keeps an eye on his younger brother, Mikio because he is still a beginner. Like any other Sannoh player, he never underestimates an opponent even though he is shown to clearly dominate.
Abilities[]
Masashi is widely seen as the best Center in Japan. He was able to outplay, outwit and defeat Akagi on various occasions to the point that he totally isolated the latter.
He started short (165 cm) during his freshman year and increased his height (25 cm) the next year which allowed him to develop skills the other centers lacked. And compared to other centers, he possesses great speed.
He also uses his great physique to overwhelm opposing players such as Sakuragi to prevent him from rebounding (because the latter's jumping ability is a problem for him).
Physical Ability | 10/10 | |
---|---|---|
Technique | 10/10 | |
Stamina | 9/10 | |
Mental Strength | 8/10 | |
Special Ability | 9/10 | |
Relationships[]
Eiji Sawakita[]
He and Sawakita are close like brothers, however the former has always been jealous of the latter's popularity to girls, which to the point uses wrestling moves to make him cry in pain, as Sawakita replying about his big face for shooting, calling him a stupid cow, his self style on Rukawa, much to Masashi's annoyance, which he retaliates by mentioning his stubborn bullheaded way of playing.
Mikio Kawata[]
His younger brother, he tends to keep an eye on him and admonished him during mistakes, while the Mikio apologizes as he respect his older brother.
Hanamichi Sakuragi[]
While different in positions, he was more interested on him due to his talents as he did not underestimated him as a beginner, he is also enthusiastic when Sakuragi declaring to beat Sannoh and challenged him in the rim, which he gleefully accept, despite their competition being short ,he acknowledge his unique talent as he was able to match him, he is also aware of his injury as he warned him despite playing against.
Quotes[]
- To Hanamichi Sakuragi: " Don't push yourself, red haired boy. You still have a bright future. However, i will not hold back once i'm angry, you understand ?"
Etymology[]
- The name Masashi means "elegant, graceful" (雅) (masa) and "history" (史) (shi).
- Masashi's surname Kawata means "river, stream" (河) (kawa) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta).
Trivia[]
- Masashi Kawata may likely be based on Charles Barkley. They both possess great physiques which they use to overwhelm opposing players. They have the same history of being a small kid, they share their love for women, they look similar, there is also a similarity on the type player that they have become.
- Masashi has shown interest in marking Sakuragi. This was seen when he told Akagi to tell Sakuragi to mark him because he is observing the latter.
- Masashi was one of the first characters to notice that Sakuragi had hurted his back and was dangerously injured, warning him to not push himself and think about his future. Nonetheless, he still warned Sakuragi that he would not hold back once getting angry.
- Though Masashi clashed with Sakuragi on just a few occasions, the match-up is somewhat similar to a Denis Rodman vs Charles Barkley match-up.