Yang Hee-jong (39), a professional basketball legend and captain of Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation, announced a surprise retirement. After this season, he will take off his old uniform. After his retirement, he plans to start training for leaders.
An official from the KGC club told Star News on the 22nd, “We are looking for candidates for Yang Hee-jong’s leadership training. Japan is a strong candidate. An outline is likely to emerge in late May or early June.”
Yang Hee-jong, a forward from Yonsei University, started his professional career at Anyang KT&G in 2007 and is a ‘one-club man’ who has been active in the same team for 17 years. During this period, he left various achievements such as winning the championship game three times and winning the regular league once. In particular, since 2014 he has been the captain and led the team brilliantly. He is a 10-year captain. As his years of experience prove, he was a ‘true captain’ trusted by the coaching staff, colleagues and club officials.메이저사이트
A club official said, “There are not many players who join a club and leave the club, but Yang Hee-jong was one of them. I highly appreciate the fact that he served as captain for 9 seasons. A player who led the development of juniors for team performance while setting personal records. It served as a mental support,” he said. “For the direction the team wanted to go, he took the most initiative, gathered people around him and led them well. He also played a sufficient role as a bridge between the coaches and players.”
Afterwards, Yang Hee-jong plans to prepare for his second life step by step through leadership training. He will end his career as a player this season, but will continue to live the life of a leader. An official from the club said, “In fostering as a leader, Yang Hee-jong is a player who will not doubt his character or future direction.”
Yang Hee-jong played in 610 regular league games, averaging 6.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He was on the court, playing for his teammates rather than himself. He added strength through defense and menace. With these two strengths at the forefront, they even wore the Taegeuk mark. In the league, he received 7 defense-related awards, including the best defense award and 5 defense girls.
KGC will designate the last home game of the regular league, which will be held on March 26th, as ‘Captain Day’ and hold a retirement ceremony for Yang Hee-jong. Also, in the playoffs, ‘Yang Hee-jong’s Last Defense’ will be operated. An official from the club explained, “I was able to see Yang Hee-jong’s missed defense in every game. It’s a pity that the player’s retirement is, but I think it will be an opportunity to support him more earnestly.”
In May of last year, Yang Hee-jong signed a 3-year free agent (FA) contract with his team, KGC. He surprised basketball fans even more by announcing his retirement at the end of his contract. However, it was for the sake of his team and juniors that he announced his retirement during the season. He tried to give his juniors more time to play, instead of stepping down in a situation where the atmosphere was so good that the team was at the top of the league (33 wins, 12 losses) this season. Here, he decided that it was the right time for the player himself to start coaching training, so he announced his retirement.
Yang Hee-jong said, “Anyang is my life. During my 17-year career as a player, I learned life by experiencing happiness, joy, frustration and sadness together. I got married and raised a child and learned responsibility. The final journey of my career as a basketball