“Ah, ah, KBL, Korean Basketball League.”
Ha Yun-ki (Suwon KT) took the microphone at the Goyang Sono Arena. As he sang confidently to the station’s logo song, the fans who filled the 5561 seats applauded enthusiastically, 토토사이트 and the festival of professional basketball stars began.
The 2023-2024 Pro Basketball All-Star Game was held at the Sono Arena in Goyang on the 14th. For the first time in Goyang, the Pro Basketball All-Star Game was so popular that all tickets were sold out in less than three minutes. This year’s All-Star Game featured a face-off between the KBL’s most popular mascots, Gong Aji and Kblmong. Gong-ah was led by Wonju DB coach Kim Joo-sung, who has led his team to the top of the league, while Kblemon was led by Changwon LG coach Cho Sang-hyun. The teams were assembled through a draft system, with the all-star roster selected by fan votes.
Regardless of the outcome, there were smiles all around the stadium at the events organized by the All-Stars. Prior to the game, Park Ji-hoon (Anyang’s head coach) received a round of applause as he entered the stadium with a sophisticated slipback (levitation dance), while Kim and Cho warmed up the atmosphere by performing a cute choreography to Girls’ Generation’s “GEE” before the game.
There was plenty to see outside of the game. For the dunk contest, Cho Jae-woo (Goyang Sono) showed up dressed as a panda bear and put on a show with Ahn Byung-wook (Sono), who was dressed as a zookeeper, and in the second quarter, Daryl Monroe (Anyang Jungkwanjang) and Kblemon Heo Il-young (Seoul SK) joined the game as referees to keep things interesting with blatantly biased calls.
On the court, there were plenty of memorable moments. KMB’s Heo Woong and Gong Aji’s Choi Jun-yong, who play together at Busan KCC, had a nerve-wracking battle. However, Choi Jun-yong showed his camaraderie in the second quarter when he lifted Heo-woong up for a two-handed dunk. Lee “Angsuk” Jung-hyun (Seoul Samsung) and Lee Kwan-hee (LG), who have sparks whenever they meet, gritted their teeth and went one-on-one.
The three-point shooting contest was won by Lee Geun-hwi (KCC). “If I shoot 10 in practice, 11 goes in,” said Lee, who topped the 13-player preliminary round and then scored 27 points in the finals to take first place. In the dunk contest, Paris Bass (KT) was crowned champion. Dustin Gutang (LG) scored a perfect 50 in the preliminaries and performed a stunt in the finals where he jumped over four players under the basket, only to be outdone by Bass’s devastating slam dunk. The winner took home a side-by-side $2 million prize.