"I'm Heo Jae. Let's have a press conference"
"I'm Heo Jae. Let's have a press conference"
Blog Article
The first trade in the KBL history took place on June 20, 1997. LG, a new team, handed over 120 million won (120,800 U.S. dollars) in cash to Anyang SBS to recruit Oh Sung-sik and Park Soo-ho. Oh Sung-sik was the mainstay of SBS in the first season and helped LG to win the runner-up prize in the regular league in its first season, but the trade was not sufficient to affect the game of the league.
The "first big deal" in the real sense was made on May 29, 1998. Busan Kia has agreed to hand over "basketball president" Huh Jae to Wonju Narae and receive Jeong In-kyo from the first round of the 1999 rookie draft. The rookie that Kia received through the transfer was Jang Young-jae, who was selected as the seventh in the first round.
The fact that it was Heo Jae's trade that led Kia Motors to seven consecutive basketball events during its unemployment period caused a stir, but Heo almost became the winner of the KBL's first trade before Oh Sung-sik and Park Soo-ho. Heo Jae, who caused a stir by drunk driving right before the KBL's inauguration, suffered humiliating loss of power in the championship game due to friction with then-Kia coach Choi In-sun. He played an average of 15 minutes and 40 seconds in three out of five games, and the ace player position was also handed over to Kang Dong-hee, who led the overall championship.
"There was no junior who congratulated me on the day the championship was confirmed. At that moment, I thought I should leave," Huh Jae immediately asked for a trade. Some articles said that there is a high possibility that he will be traded to Narae, but this quickly became "nothing that has happened." Shortly after the trade request, rumors spread that the parent company went bankrupt and Kia was sold, so they decided to stay for one more season.
In the 1997-1998 season championship match against Daejeon Hyundai, Huh Jae showed his fighting spirit by leading the series to Game 7 despite suffering a broken right hand, ankle ligament, and thigh injury. Huh Jae remains the only player who was named the playoff MVP as a member of the runner-up team. It was Heo Jae's "Last Dance" that represented Kia.
Hur Jae asked for a trade again right after the championship match. He called reporters he was close to and volunteered for a press conference. This time, along with Narae, who expressed interest in recruiting Hur Jae a year ago, Samsung entered the competition. Samsung offered Yang Kyung-min, who was discharged from the military, as a trade card, but Hur Jae hoped to go to Narae, where Choi Hyung-gil, secretary-general (current KCC general manager), and coach Lee Jae-ho from Yongsan High School, are located. "There were many seniors in Narae, so I felt more friendly, and I decided to guarantee the leader after retirement." This was what Hur Jae said at the time.
Thus, Heo's final destination was Narae, and after the announcement of the trade, Narae even acquired Yang Kyung-min through a follow-up trade. The player given away to recruit Yang was Joo Hui-jeong, a rookie awardee. After the trade, Hur spent more than 30 minutes on average for two consecutive seasons. He was named one of the best five players during the 1999-2000 season. During the 2002-2003 season when his team name changed to TG, Hur joined rookies Kim Joo-sung and David Jackson for the first time since the transfer.
Hur announced his retirement plan right after winning the championship. He wanted an honorable retirement when he could lead his team to victory on his own, and Shin Ki-sung was about to be discharged from the military. However, the TG still needed Hur. "Some say we should leave the top beautifully, but Hur is a great support to our team even if he plays for just one minute. The victory proved him," explained Choi Hyung-gil, deputy head of TG at the time. 파워볼사이트
However, just like the last championship game he played before leaving Kia, Heo Jae remained in second place in his last season at TG. He only finished second in the championship game with KCC with three wins and four losses. Heo Jae soothed his regret for the runner-up by holding an unprecedented retirement game after the end of the 2003-2004 season. Superstars such as Kang Dong-hee and Kim Young-man, who played as "Heo Dong-man Trio" with Heo Jae during the Kia period, Seo Jang-hoon and Moon Kyung-eun, participated in the event to shine on Heo Jae's retirement game.