Height Is Not Everything in Basketball

You can see a small player who is a lot shorter than other players in a gym of the KCC pro basketball team.

He is 24-year-old Lee Hang-beom (1m68cm). He is the shortest player among the 10 basketball teams. Common basketball players are usually over 1m90cm tall. It is not an easy job to find out him among his taller teammates.

“Height is not everything in basketball. Even Muggsey Bogues, who was 1m60cm tall, played in NBA. I am much taller than him.”

Bogues is an ideal man for short athletes, who played in 889 games and averaged 8.8 points, 7.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 0.54 steals per game for his career until he retired as a Toronto Raptor in 2001. Lee said confidently, “Timing is a crucial factor in basketball. I can penetrate in front of a 2m center.”

He is still trainee. Selected fourth in the second round (14th place in total) of the rookie draft earlier this month, Lee can play from next season onwards. Consequently, his mission in training is to pass tipped or missed balls to senior players.

But he is not lazy in his own training. For his home game schedule in Jeonjoo, he runs the 4km distance from Riviera Hotel to Jeonjoo Gymnasium alone. He does same thing on the way back. Lately, he has run from Dragon Hotel to Changwon Gymnasium at an away match against LG.

His appearance from a distance is distinctly African American. His hair is cut short and his face is tanned. He also loves to listen to hip-hop music and walks in a hip-hop style.

“I used to admire black players in the NBA because it seemed to me that in general, they were more flexible and were able to jump higher.”

He has cut his hair himself once every three days for the past five years. His length of hair is always 2mm. He feels stifled with long hair.

His career has been extraordinary. He started basketball at the age of seven and was transferred to Hong-ik Middle School from Yeoui-do Middle School when his play was noticed in a street basketball competition. He went Hong-ik High School and was supposed to enter Seong-kyun-kwan University, but escaped from that tight life routine. He spent two years practicing basketball in a park at night. He joined the army in 2001 after a directionless life up until that point.

“I did weight training with push-ups and barbells during military service when it was possible. When I grabbed a ball during leave, all the sensory nerves of my hand woke up and make me crazy.”

Basketball is sport of height. Handicapped by short height, why did he want to play basketball?

“I am so happy when I hold a basketball. My friends are addicted to playing computer games, but I can’t play even Starcraft. I can’t waste time doing such a thing.”

Many people wondered why he was selected by KCC. However Coach Shin Seon-woo has a different opinion. He evaluated Lee, saying, “I saw him in a couple of practice games in his college days, and I thought that he had an inborn basketball sense.”

“My level is poor right now,” said Lee. “I know well that coach picked me up only for my potential. I might be kicked out if I couldn’t show something in the first year. I will put everything into this year.”

The Bogues of Korea has dreamed for 17 years. Let’s hope that his dream comes true.

mars@donga.com