According to The Korea Herald, recent Blazer signee Lee Hyun-jung “played the best basketball of his life during his six-game run to the gold medal for South Korea at the Asian Games this month.”
Lee’s game-leading 27-point performance in a 67-57 victory over home country Japan led the South Korean men’s basketball team to its first gold medal in the games since 2014. He isn’t the first in his family to earn Asian Games gold. His mother, Seong Jeong-a, played center for the South Korean women’s team that
won the title in 1990.
When asked if she had any advice for him leading up to the game, Lee said, “She didn’t say much to me. She just told me to be myself in a calm, cool-headed way. I think I am very lucky that she is my mother. She has helped me become a better player while teaching me to remain humble.”
Just prior to the Asian Games tournament, the Blazers signed Lee to an Exhibit 10 contract, a one-year deal that isn’t guaranteed, but does come with a training camp invite.
It’s a humble start, but Lee is dreaming big.
“There are so many things I want to do. I want to play in the World Cup, the Olympics and the NBA,” he said. “And I want to hear people say that South Korean basketball is not weak, but strong.”
If he makes it to the NBA, he will be the first South Korean to do so since former Blazer Ha Seung-Jin.
