Older Basketball Stars as Good as They Ever Were

Hur Jae (KCC head coach) passed to Kim Yoo-taek (Xports commentator), and Kim returned the pass to Hur, who scored from under the rim. The duo from Chung-Ang University and the Kia amateur team still showed their harmonious play.

On November 26, older basketball players demonstrated their untarnished skills in commemoration of the centennial anniversary of the Korean Basketball League in Jamsil Student Gymnasium.

Hur Jae, Kim Jin (SK head coach), Choi Hee-am (ET Land head coach), Choi Myeong-ryong (former Narae head coach) and Kim Yoo-taek started for the white team, while the blue team featured Kang Dong-hee (Dongbu coach), Kang Jeong-soo (former SBS head coach), Kim Dong-gwang (former Samsung head coach), Jeong In-gyo (Shinsegae head coach) and Lee Mun-gyu (former KB head coach). The white team beat the blue, 53-40.

Hur Jae played for over ten minutes, and scored 12 points with two three-pointers out of three tries, reaffirming his nickname, ‘Basketball Master.’

The women’s old-timer teams played before the men, and the white team, with Yoo Yeong-ju (former KB coach) and Cheon Eun-suk (former Kolon team), beat the red team with Jeong Eun-sun (former Samsung Life), 37-27.

At the keynote speech of the centennial anniversary, Chairman Lee Jong-geol of the Korea Basketball Association presented the following five visions: Obtaining a medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, revitalizing Korean youth basketball, building a Korean basketball commemoration hall, building basketball gyms, and establishing basketball academies.

hic@donga.com