First ever Asian quarter MVP "10,000 Audiences" match in 12 years
Ra Gun-ah's record of No. 1 foreign player scoring and the first win of the team ranked 5th in the KCC is 'enormous'
In the 2023-2024 season of professional basketball, which ended with Busan KCC's championship game, various records were released, adding to the fun of fans watching.
First of all, for the first time in history, a player who is not a Korean national was selected as the "Korea's Most Valuable Player (MVP)," drawing attention.
Ethan Albano, a dual U.S. and Philippines citizen who has played as an Asian quarter in Wonju DB since last season, has become the MVP of domestic players.
Asian quarter players, introduced starting with Japan in 2020, were grouped with domestic players in various records and awards and produced MVP for the first time.
Albano played in all 54 regular league games this season, averaging 15.9 points, 6.6 assists, and 3.0 rebounds, taking the lead in DB's No. 1 regular league and standing tall as the "best star."
KCC's Ra Gun-ah, a "long-lived foreign player" in domestic professional basketball, has left a deep mark in cumulative records with a healthy appearance again this season.
He scored a total of 829 points in 53 regular league games this season, recording 11,343 points in his career, ranking second in professional basketball history and first among foreign players after retired Seo Jang-hoon (13,231).
Ra Gun-ah became the 'most scorer ever' for all domestic players just by the playoff (PO) record.
Ra Gun-ah, who scored a total of 264 points in 12 games from the semi-finals to the championship game, accumulated 1,560 points in her career, beating DB manager Kim Joo-sung (1,502 points) to rank No. 1 in PO.
Goyang Sono's guard Lee Jung-hyun solidified his presence as a "native ace" with the record of being selected as a "unanimous round MVP" for the first time in the sixth round of the regular league.
Lee Jung-hyun, who dominated the 6th round MVP vote with 80 votes, was the only Korean player to be selected as the round MVP this season.
Changwon LG's Yoo Ki-sang set a new record for the most three-point shots in a rookie season.
Yoo Ki-sang, who hit his 89th and 90th three-point shots of the season against Anyang Jeonggwanjang on March 19, became the No. 1 player in history, surpassing Shin Gi-sung in the 1998-1999 season and Kim Min-gu's 88 in the 2013-2014 season, hit a total of 95 three-point shots in the regular league this season.
Among the head coaches, KCC coach Jeon Chang-jin, who led the fifth-place team in the regular league to win the championship game for the first time in history, stood out.
Born in May 1963, Jeon became the first head coach to win in his 60s in professional basketball.
At the age of 39, he topped Wonju TG (current DB) in the 2002-2003 season and held the record of the youngest champion coach, surpassing the 56-year-old of former Ulsan Hyundai Mobis coach Yoo Jae-hak, reaffirming his reputation as a representative "master" of domestic professional basketball.
KCC, led by Jeon, was called a "super team" with a brilliant lineup such as Huh Woong, Lee Seung-hyun, Ra Gun-ah, Choi Jun-yong and Song Kyo-chang, but in the regular league, he showed off his prowess from the PO in the sixth round and won the championship in his first year before moving to his hometown.
In the regular league, DB showed off its powerful appearance by winning the "Wire to Wire" for the fourth time ever, which never lost the top spot throughout the season, but it was blocked by KCC's wall in the semifinal PO and did not even make it to the championship match.
Professional basketball, whose regular league entry income exceeded 10 billion won for the first time, also marked a milestone in the box office, has set up a gold tower of "10,000 spectators per game" for the first time in 12 years thanks to the clash between KCC and Suwon kt, where the league's top stars Huh Woong and Huh Hoon brothers play, respectively.
10,496 people gathered at Sajik Gymnasium in Busan, where the third round of the championship was held on the 1st of this month, and 10,000 spectators came out for the first time in 12 years after the semifinal PO match (Sajik Gymnasium, 12,815 people) between KT and Anyang KGC (currently Jeonggwanjang) in the 2011-2012 season.
Likewise, 11,217 people participated in the fourth game held in Sajik on the 3rd, recording "10,000 spectators for two consecutive games" in 13 years since the 5th and 6th games of the Dongbu-KCC's championship decision in the 2010-2011 season (Seoul Jamsil neutral game).
In the third and fourth games of the championship, KBL's entry income for one game exceeded 100 million won for the first time since it began operating an integrated marketing platform for the 2020-2021 season.
Amid enthusiastic attention from fans, Huh Woong led KCC to win the championship and became the PO MVP, and was named the first "父 PO MVP" with his father Heo Jae, the PO MVP in the 1997-1998 season, while Heo Hoon left a great match with a 40-minute full-time fighting spirit for four consecutive games.
In addition, Hyundai Mobis' first 800 wins in professional basketball history and SK's cumulative home attendance of 3 million were also meaningful records that shone on the court this season. 메이저 토토사이트