Jeon Becomes MVP after 16 Years on the Basketball Court

“I won the league championship for the first time since graduating from high school 16 years ago. I guess that gives me this honor.”

Stepping onto the podium, Jeon Joo-won (35) of the Shinhan Bank basketball team did not hesitate to express her feelings in front of an audience of more than 300 people. The charisma the athlete in her mid-30’s exuded pretty much explained her commanding presence on the court as the most experienced player in the Women’s Korean Basketball League (WKBL).

Jeon was named the most valuable player of the WKBL in the winter league award ceremony held at Westin Chosun Hotel, Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, yesterday. Among 73 sports reporters, 59 voted for her.

Jeon led Shinhan Bank to win the WKBL title for the first time in the team’s history, playing 19 games in the season with an average of 6.79 assists per game.

It seems belated that the representative figure in Korean women’s basketball was chosen as MVP for the first time since her graduation from Sunil Girls’ High School in 1991. This has to do with the fact that she is not so much an offensive player with high scoring as a backup player who offers support with team coordination and passing.

Jeon took the opportunity to express gratitude to her family and said, “My daughter Su-bin’s face first comes to my mind. Without the sacrifice by my family, I couldn’t be here today. I have been home only twice since the start of the January season.”

She set the goal of seeing her daughter after becoming the champion in the playoffs beginning March 22 and wrote on her mini home page, “The goal is one. Be the champion.”

Ha Eun-joo (Shinhan Bank) was awarded the rookie of the year this season following her stellar performance in the Japanese league last year.

The league’s top scorer Lauren Jackson (Samsung Insurance) was named the best foreign player.

kjs0123@donga.com