Lady Warrior Plays Street Basketball—and Wins

“At first, the thought of having to engage in physical contact with the other guys made me go for only three-pointers, but now I tend to go for surprise drive shots.”

In the midst of all the men who participated in the street ball tournament, a woman was seen dribbling past other men and taking shots at will. She not only had the skills, but also had stunning looks.

On August 5, at Seoul Gangnam’s Samsung Dong Coex Exhibition Center, the 2004 Nike three-on-three street ball Seoul District preliminaries were held. Kim Mee-jin (23) teamed up with Lim Jae-woo (24) and Lee Min-gyoo (22, Busan Dongeui University) to create a team called “Reserve Point” in order to enter the tournament. Even though she was sweating hard and even limping from fatigue, she was smiling victoriously after she won today’s games.

“Reserve Point” won three games in a row and easily passed the first preliminary round of the district tournament. The Seoul District Finals are scheduled to be held on August 7.

Four finalists who have won each district tournament from Seoul, Busan, Daegu, and Daejeon will come together to determine the best of the best on August 8.

Kim scored four points, almost half of the total, during the hardest game of the day against the “Lex” team, leading her team to a 10 to six victory. During her third game of the day, intense physical contact with an opponent disabled her and forced her to walk for a moment, but she got up and calmly made a free throw. Basketball fans curiously watched her games with excitement and astonishment. Comments such as, “Check out her moves. Wow can she shoot!” were heard all around her while she played. Kim’s 171cm footwork was altogether that good.

Currently, Kim is a squash instructor at Busan Dongju University. Her only experience with basketball was when she played basketball for one year while she was a student athlete at Busan Dongju Girls Commercial High School. Other than that, she enjoyed playing street basketball with her classmates, who were mostly men, while she was going to college.

“When I play with other guys, they usually are surprised to go up against a girl, which makes them think they’re better. I hated the feeling so much that when we shook hands before the game, I intentionally squeezed my opponent’s hand as hard as I could. When other guys are up against me, they better be sweating.”

Although Kim doesn’t lack speed or stamina compared to her male competition, she showed a bit of modesty by saying that her other two teammates covered for her during most of the games.

Kim and her teammates met after friends introduced each other last month. However, since Kim had a job to attend to, she couldn’t practice much with her other teammates.

Kim, who entered the tournament after asking for a temporary vacation from her job, has one goal to win.

Won-Hong Lee bluesky@donga.com