Palmer is the man in Osaka

Playing professional basketball in Japan has been great to former Yuba City High star David Palmer.

However, living in Osaka - Japan’s second-largest city - has been a bit of a challenge for the forward. Japanese cities weren’t designed for men standing 6-foot-7.

“It’s a big change, but everyone there is respectful and nice. That makes is really easy,” said Palmer, who just finished his second season playing for the Osaka Evessa of the Basketball Japan League.

“For me, it’s difficult because the apartments are small, the subways are packed and I’m so much bigger, so I’m sticking out completely and ducking my head everywhere I go. My legs barely fit under tables and I can’t find clothes or anything. But overall, it’s been a really good experience.”

Palmer can stretch out on the court, where he guided Evessa to a second-consecutive BJ League championship and was named the postseason MVP for his efforts.

It was Palmer’s third season playing international basketball. He spent his first season with Prostejov in the Czech Republic after graduating from Southern Utah in 2004. He attended American River College in Sacramento for two seasons after graduating from Yuba City in 2000.

Palmer once had thoughts of playing for Yuba College, until he was recruited away from the 49ers by American River assistant coach Doug Cornelius - now Yuba’s head coach.

“He was just a phenomenal kid,” said Cornelius, who still gets to see Palmer as part of the pro-am series Yuba’s skipper coaches in each summer.

“He was the first kid who was 6-7, 6-8 who we let shoot outside because he was so skilled.

“His sophomore year he had a phenomenal year. He would bang with guys and rebound, go inside and outside and run the floor. ... I was really surprised he didn’t get recruited higher,” Cornelius said. “I guess it worked out for him, though.”

Palmer said he didn’t love playing basketball at Southern Utah, but the passion was reignited once he started making steps toward playing internationally.

“We weren’t that successful, it was a walk-the-ball-up-the-floor game and I find that just a little too slow,” Palmer said. “I like to get up and run.”

Palmer led Southern Utah in scoring during each of his seasons there and began to realize that his dream of playing professionally could become a reality.

Lubor Olsovsky, a teammate of Palmer’s at Southern Utah and a Slovakia native, hooked him up with a connection in the Czech Republic.

Palmer then hired agent Bill Ness, who also represents Matt Barnes of the Warriors, and began sending game film to teams.

“I was in contact with a couple teams, they asked for tapes and whatnot and each team flew me out for a tryout and then I was offered a contract,” Palmer said.

Palmer then found out what it means to be an American player on an international team.

“I learned quite a bit about being a professional player and what I needed to do, especially being a foreign American player,” he said. “In those leagues, you’re expected to do quite a bit if you’re an American. You’re expected to be the leader of the team. As a rookie, I didn’t fully understand how aggressive I needed to be. ... It was a learning curve for me.”

Palmer grew with each game and broke out when he left the Czech Republic and hooked on with Evessa, where the BJ League grew from six teams in 2005-06 to eight in 2006-07. Palmer said the league is adding two more teams next season.

“Americans dominate the league a little bit. The style is more like the NBA,” Palmer said. “The European teams’ style is more like college, a lot of zone defense, a lot more gimmicks. We have that as well (in Japan), but it’s kind of a mix of NBA and how Europe was. We try to get up and down and score points.”

Palmer said each BL Japan team has three or four non-Japanese players, and just like in Europe, the Americans are expected to be leaders and carry the team.

“I get to be a leader and I’m expected to score, especially when the game is on the line,” he said. “It’s more likely as a foreign American player that I’ll have the ball in my hands in those situations. ... I play the role as a more assertive player that has to make a play. I’ve been doing that for a few years, so I’m a better all-around player, not just a role player.”

Palmer, who is currently living in Sacramento, said he’s considering re-signing with Evessa, but is also weighing his options on playing in the NBA Development League.

“I might try to get on an NBA summer league team or at least an NBA DL team,” he said. “But the only problem is the money is not very good in those minor leagues. I want to give it a shot because I never went after it. ... I might try to stay here and create a name for myself.”

Appeal-Democrat reporter Justin Miller can be reached at 749-4796. You may e-mail him at jmiller@appealdemocrat.com