KCC Snatches Biggest Catch

A small white ping-pong ball came out of a lottery. A shout was erupted from a table where head coach Hur Jae and coach Kim Kwang of the KCC Egis were seating.

That was the moment KCC badly wished to have. They got to select a team player first from a pool of players. Moments later, coach Hur picked 22-year-old center Ha Seung-jin of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) draft held in Yangjae, southern Seoul.

So the KCC became the final winner of the “Ha Seung-jin” draft, which had drawn an unprecedented attention in the history of Korea’s pro-basketball league.

They unhesitatingly picked Ha, the biggest fish in the KBL draft, focusing on his experience in the NBA after graduating from Yonsei University.

With the height of 2.21 meters, the 22-year-old was among the largest players in the NBA.

Coach Hur, who had a similar luck to pick Kim Ju-seong when he was both a coach and player at the TG Sambo, said, “I was greatly relieved to see the white ball. Since we succeeded in snatching the biggest fish, we will do our best to win this season by selecting other players well.”

Ha was born as the youngest child between basketball player Ha Dong-ki and cycle player Kwon Yong-sook. He evolved into a quality player while playing for Samil Commercial High School, becoming the second high school player who represented Korea, after his father.

Ha became the first Korean to make it to the NBA as a 46th pick by the Portland Trail Blazers and returned to Korean last year after spending two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Portland Trail Blazers.

His older sister, Ha Eun-Joo, a professional basketball player with Shinhan Bank, also made a comeback after playing in Japan.

Kim Min-soo, also known as “Argentina Express,” changed his nationality to Korean and was picked second to play for the SK Knights.

Forward Yoon Ho-young and guard Kang Byeong-hyeon who led the 38th consecutive wins of Chung-Ang University last year were selected by the Wonju Dongbu Promy and the ETLand, respectively.

The draft was aired live on the Internet for the first time and an estimated 400,000 fans showed their great interest in the draft, which caused the servers at some websites of basketball teams to fail for a while.

Only 22 players were selected among the draft pool of 40 players, reflecting the current situation of a lack of new players except for a few outstanding rookies.

kjs0123@donga.com hic@donga.com