Lee Jung-hyun (basketball)
Lee Jung-hyun (born March 3, 1987) is a South Korean professional basketball player for Jeonju KCC Egis in the Korean Basketball League and the South Korean national team. Early life. Lee played baseball and football throughout elementary school. A promising football prospect, he had considered becoming a professional football player. He started playing basketball in sixth grade when his elementary school decided to start a basketball team and a classmate recruited him to join the team since he already had an athletic background. As a student at Gwangju High School he gained the attention of  college recruiters for his shooting skills. Career. College. Lee played college basketball for Yonsei University. He was largely unnoticed during his freshman year due to the presence of Kim Tae-sul and Yang Hee-jong, both in their senior season. During his senior year he was Yonsei's leader in points, assists and rebounds and led the team to the final of the National Basketball Festival (the main collegiate competition at that time) for the first time in five years. Professional. Anyang KT&G / Anyang KGC (2010–2017). In the 2010 KBL rookie draft, Lee was drafted by Busan KT Sonicboom second  overall and then traded to Anyang KT&G in a player exchange. Although he scored 19 points and impressed in his debut, he spent his first two seasons as the sixth man and went on to the win the Sixth Man Award at the 2011-12 KBL awards ceremony. He enlisted for mandatory military service in April 2013 and joined the after completing basic training. He was discharged in January 2015, returning to the team roster immediately. During the 2015-16 season Lee was a mainstay of the Anyang team which reached the semi-finals of the play-offs, especially in  clutch situations. He was the only Anyang player voted into the KBL Best 5 that season. Lee was part of the Anyang team which won a rare "double" during the 2016-17 season, winning both the regular season as well as the KBL Championship. The top-scoring domestic player that season, he was nominated for the KBL Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) award but lost to teammate Oh Se-keun. Despite his stellar record, Lee instead became better known for an incident during the playoffs, when Anyang KGC met Seoul Samsung Thunders in the finals. During Game 2, he elbowed  Thunders shooting guard Lee Gwan-hee, his former Yonsei teammate, in the neck and latter forcefully pushed him down as retaliation. Both were disciplined and fined for unsporting behavior, with Lee Jung-hyun whistled for a foul and Lee Gwan-hee being ejected for an unsportsmanlike foul and suspended for the next game. As a result, he was booed by irate Thunders fans throughout Game 3 and failed to replicate his form, only scoring 9 points. It has been speculated that both players, who are not usually known for such physical confrontations on the court, had already been on bad  terms since their university days but both players and other fellow Yonsei alumni have declined to comment. Ever since the incident, any games in which the two players meet has received more attention from the media and fans. Jeonju KCC Egis (2017–present). After his contract with Anyang KGC ended, Lee became a free agent and joined Jeonju KCC Egis for the 2017-18 season. In December 2017, he reached a milestone of appearing in his 300th consecutive KBL-sanctioned "A" match (professional match). He was voted KBL Most Valuable Player of the 2018-19 season as he led the  league in points scored, averaging 17.2 points, among domestic players. His win made him the first Jeonju KCC Egis player in 20 years to win MVP and only the second MVP winner not from a Championship-winning team or league top-three team since the KBL was established. In December 2019, he was nominated for and won the Male Basketball Player of the Year, voted for by league coaches and his KBL peers, at the annual "Dong-a" Sports Awards honoring domestic professional athletes across all disciplines. Lee was a key player in KCC winning the 2020-21 regular season  and reaching the finals of the play-offs, losing the KBL Championship title to his former team Anyang KGC. However, he also became a controversial figure when the KBL released a list of players who were caught "flopping" (faking fouls) that season and his name was at the top of the list. Lee's appearance record has extended into the 2021-22 season. in December, he reached the record of playing in 500 consecutive KBL-sanctioned "A" games. National team. Lee participated in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup. He was in the final squad and named captain for the 2019  FIBA World Cup. Personal life. Lee is a fan of his hometown baseball team Kia Tigers and has been spotted attending their games during his off-season. Since 2019, Lee has been occasionally referred to as "big Lee Jung-hyun" (큰 정현) by other players and in the media due to another younger player having the exact same name being called up to the senior national team for the same game. "Small Lee Jung-hyun" (작은 정현) is also an alumnus of Yonsei University and was drafted by Goyang Orion Orions in the 2021 rookie draft. Although their names are  spelled the same in Hangul, their given names are written differently in Hanja.