Kobe has a new basketball season to look forward to. The Kobe Storks, champions of Japan’s B2 division last season, are moving onto the country’s new top stage, B.LEAGUE PREMIER. At a preseason game inside GLION ARENA KOBE, three new international players stood out among the unfamiliar numbers on the court: Canadian center Fardaws Aimaq, former NBA forward Jalen McDaniels and Lebanese wing Lucas Saleh. They may become three names worth remembering this season.
Kobe has its own professional basketball team
For international visitors, Kobe is usually associated with its harbor, Kobe beef or the mountains rising behind the city.
Basketball may not be the first thing that comes to mind.
But close to Kobe’s waterfront, the city now has one of Japan’s most striking basketball venues: GLION ARENA KOBE, home of the Kobe Storks.
When the lights go down, GLION ARENA KOBE turns green. A Storks home game is as much about the atmosphere as the basketball.
The Storks enter the 2026-27 season after an exceptional year.
They finished the 2025-26 B2 regular season with a 55-5 record, winning the West Division with a .917 winning percentage. They then defeated the Fukushima Firebonds in the playoff final to become B2 champions.
Now the setting changes.
From the 2026-27 season, Japan’s professional basketball structure has been reorganized, with B.LEAGUE PREMIER — B.PREMIER — becoming the top category. Twenty-six clubs will compete in East and West conferences, with Kobe placed in the West.
For the Storks, that means moving from being the dominant team in B2 to becoming a challenger on Japan’s highest stage.
And they have changed the roster accordingly.
Three new international players arrive in Kobe
Six players have joined the Storks for the new season.
Among them are three international additions who give the team a very different look: #00 Fardaws Aimaq, #6 Jalen McDaniels and #22 Lucas Saleh. The club’s finalized 2026-27 roster lists Aimaq at center and McDaniels and Saleh at small forward.
They come from Canada, the United States and Lebanon.
More importantly, they arrive with three different roles to play.
#00 Fardaws Aimaq — Kobe adds size and rebounding
At 211 cm and 111 kg, Fardaws Aimaq is difficult to miss.
The Canadian center was born on January 6, 1999, and joined Kobe after playing professionally in Hungary, Lithuania and Taiwan. The Storks signed him specifically with his rebounding ability in mind.
New Kobe Storks center Fardaws Aimaq (#00) attacks from the perimeter during the preseason game against the Chiba Jets.
That reputation is supported by his recent numbers.
Playing for Lietkabelis Panevėžys in Lithuania during the 2025-26 season, Aimaq averaged 9.6 rebounds and 10.2 points in 10 EuroCup games, including 3.7 offensive rebounds per game.
Kobe general manager Yamato Kuri described Aimaq as a player acquired to help the team “control the rebounds,” while also expecting his inside presence to draw defenders and open opportunities for teammates.
That could be particularly important in B.PREMIER, where Kobe will regularly face bigger and deeper frontcourts.
Aimaq finishes above the rim. At 211 cm, the new center gives Kobe a physical presence around the basket.
He is not joining Kobe simply because he is tall.
The question this season will be how much possession — and how many second chances — Kobe can gain through him.
#6 Jalen McDaniels — more than 250 NBA games come to Kobe
The highest-profile newcomer is Jalen McDaniels.
The 206 cm American forward was born on January 31, 1998 and played college basketball at San Diego State before Charlotte selected him with the 52nd pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Jalen McDaniels (#6) watches the shot during his first preseason appearance in Kobe colors.
NBA.com records 252 regular-season appearances and 45 starts, with career averages of 6.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. His NBA career included regular-season appearances with Charlotte, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington.
For an overseas basketball fan visiting Kobe, this is probably the easiest name on the roster to recognize.
But his NBA background is only part of why the Storks brought him to Japan.
Kobe describes McDaniels as an all-around player capable of contributing at both ends of the floor and called him the “last piece” of the 2026-27 roster.
At 206 cm, McDaniels can put the ball on the floor as well as play with length. His versatility could become one of Kobe’s most interesting weapons.
At 206 cm, he has the size of a frontcourt player but can handle the ball away from the basket.
That versatility was already visible in the preseason.
He does not need every possession to run through him. Sometimes his value is simply that he gives Kobe another long, mobile player who can change what the team is able to do on both ends.
For the Storks, bringing a player with more than 250 NBA games to Kobe is also a small indication of how seriously the club is approaching its first B.PREMIER season.
#22 Lucas Saleh — a defender from Lebanon
The least familiar of the three may eventually become one of the more interesting.
Lucas Saleh, born May 1, 2000, is a 198 cm, 95 kg small forward from Lebanon. He is registered under the B.LEAGUE’s Asia Special Quota.
Lebanese forward Lucas Saleh (#22) brings the ball up the floor in his first preseason appearance for Kobe.
Saleh played college basketball at Belmont Abbey College before continuing his career in Lebanon with Champville, Nadim Souaid Academy and Central Al Markaziyyah.
FIBA has also listed Saleh with Lebanon in the 2027 Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
But the most interesting part of Kobe’s assessment of him is not his offense.
It is his defense.
According to the Storks, Saleh was regularly asked to guard opposing teams’ top players in the Lebanese league. General manager Yamato Kuri highlighted his combination of size, footwork and willingness to take difficult defensive assignments.
That gives him a clearly defined identity before the season even starts.
Aimaq is here to rebound.
McDaniels brings NBA-level experience and versatility.
Saleh arrives with the expectation that he can make life uncomfortable for the player standing opposite him.
Three newcomers, three different reasons to watch.
The first glimpse came against one of Japan’s biggest clubs
The three players made their Kobe preseason appearance during KOBE RISING -2026-, held at GLION ARENA KOBE on August 22 and 23.
The event brought together four B.PREMIER clubs: Kobe Storks, Chiba Jets, Levanga Hokkaido and Shimane Susanoo Magic.
Kobe’s first opponent was the Chiba Jets.
Kobe and Chiba trade possessions beneath the giant scoreboard during KOBE RISING.
For Kobe, this was useful precisely because Chiba represents the level they now have to face.
The Storks stayed close for much of the game before Chiba gradually gained an advantage on the boards and created separation.
Kobe kept chasing.
The final score was 100-95 to Chiba.
It was a loss, but this was August, not the postseason.
More interesting was seeing what the new roster might eventually become.
Players, spectators and the arena seem unusually close at GLION ARENA KOBE. Basketball here feels fast before you have time to think about the score.
There were new numbers on the jerseys, new combinations on the floor and moments when the team clearly still looked like something under construction.
That is what preseason is for.
Why the Storks may be worth watching in Kobe
There is another reason this season matters.
The Storks are no longer simply trying to become one of Japan’s top basketball clubs.
They are now playing against them.
Last year’s 55-5 record disappears when the new season begins.
Kobe enters B.PREMIER in a Western Conference that includes clubs such as the Ryukyu Golden Kings, Nagasaki Velca, Hiroshima Dragonflies, Shimane Susanoo Magic, Nagoya Diamond Dolphins and Osaka Evessa.
That should make the 2026-27 season much less predictable than the last one.
And potentially more interesting.
A Kobe attack unfolds in front of a packed stand. This season, some of Japan’s strongest clubs will come to the city to play here.
For international visitors, a Storks game also offers a side of Kobe that does not usually appear in travel guides.
This is not historic Kobe or scenic Kobe.
It is contemporary Kobe on a game night — lights, music, thousands of people and a local team playing a sport that has grown rapidly in Japan.
And you do not need to know every player before entering the arena.
Remember three numbers for now:
00 — Fardaws Aimaq.
Watch the rebounds.
6 — Jalen McDaniels.
Watch how a former NBA forward fits into Japanese basketball.
22 — Lucas Saleh.
Watch who he is being asked to defend.
The rest can come later.
Storky, the Kobe Storks mascot, is another familiar face inside the arena. His jersey number is 78.
A new level of basketball begins in Kobe
The Kobe Storks open their B.PREMIER home schedule against Osaka Evessa on September 26 at GLION ARENA KOBE.
Last season ended with Kobe celebrating a championship in this arena.
This season begins with something less certain.
That may make it better.
The Storks have kept much of the team that won B2, added six new players and brought three very different international careers to the Kobe waterfront.
A Canadian rebounder.
A forward with 252 NBA games.
A young Lebanese defender arriving through the Asia Special Quota.
We do not yet know how those pieces will fit.
That is exactly why this may be the right season to start watching the Kobe Storks.
