From beginning of this year, the Korean Basketball League (KBL) had finally opened its annual season. Ten teams are participating in total: Anyang KGC, Ulsan Phoebus, Dongbu Promy, Seoul Samsung Thunders, Incheon Electroland Elephants, Busan KT, Jeonju KCC Egis, Changwon LG Sakers, Seoul SK Knights and Goyang Orions. First established in 1997, the KBL has been a pioneer in Korean professional sports for straight 18 years and has experienced some great progress in promotion, marketing, and spectator participation as well.
With the games continuing on a fast pace, team Anyang KGC is leading in first place with Goyang Orions right behind. In the 6th round, Seoul Samsung Thunders was able to beat Incheon Electroland Elephants and progress onto the semi-finals to compete with Goyang Orions. The Orions were able to beat the Samsung Thunders on both games during the span of two days and currently is waiting for another match on the 18th.
“Not a lot of Koreans pay attention to the basketball season as much as other sports seasons,” said William Chung (11), a basketball player. “Of course, there is a number of basketball fans at school who actually have passion for basketball but generally speaking, a lot of Korean basketball seasons go unnoticed by the public.”
A lot of these Korean basketball teams also consist of some foreign players who contribute fair amount of scores to the game. For example, the foreign duo of Keifer Sykes and David Simon of Anyang KGC were once again dominating the court as they helped the KGC won its second game against Ulsan Mobis Phoebus 82-73 on Wednesday. Despite that it is purely
“I don’t have much interest in Korean basketball teams,” said Jina Kim (10), a cheerleader. “But I noticed that just like how our school basketball team functions, competitions like KBL create an atmosphere of unity rather than competition. Sure, the air is tight during the game itself but the players are able to meet new people, share interest, and just enjoy playing.”
Although the KBL has been around 20 years, each season springs with different results, different emotions, and different players hooping in their goals. As the KBL is still in middle of its season, more audience and fans are expected to bring interest to this court.