Kim Byung-chul Wins MVP

“I can`t believe this, but a day like this came even to me,” said Kim Byung-chul, 30, nicknamed `Peter Pan` at the Dongyang Orions. The player was selected as MVP in the regular league of Korean Pro Basketball for the first time in his life.

When his name was called at the award, he expressed a puzzled look, as he could not believe it. This was understandable. He has never been blessed with awards. Although his team, the Dongyang Orions, were league winners and Championship Series winners this year, his only award was that for `Model Player Award` in the 1997 season.

Although he was the hero of his team`s 2 consecutive regular league titles, he figured that he was fortunate to be selected among the `Best 5.`

Kim Byung-chul saw a video of the Korean movie, `Glory of Family` last night. He, like the hero in the movie, expressed his feelings in saying, “I don`t know what to say because I have no experience in this… I think this is too much for me, and this is because of help from the coaching staff and my teammates.”

Kim Byung-chul benchmarked himself as the feature star of the Orions by succeeding in `standing alone.` He took a major role in leading the team after Chon Hui-chul, a friend of almost 10 years at Korea University and a teammate on the Dongyang Orions, was traded to KCC before the season began.

Kim Byung-chul, team captain for the first time, led offense with explosive 3-pointers and daring fast breaks, showing persistent leadership on and off the court. He played all 54 regular season games without injury, played 36 minutes and scored an average of 16.9 points per game, also showing strong defense.

“As team captain, I cared about the team record rather than presenting myself first. Although we had a few rough moments in the middle of the season, we overcame the worst as a team,” Kim said.

Kim Byung-chul donated the 3 million won prize money to help the citizens of Daegu, still in mourning following the subway tragedy last month.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com