Nine games into the Korean Basketball League (KBL) regular season with an eight wins and one loss record. For the first time since the club was founded, Anyang KGC has won more than seven games in the first round of the season.

However, prior to the season start, KGC was a team surrounded by questions. Kim Seung-ki, who coached the team, left to join the Goyang Carrot Jumpers. Head coach Kim Sang-Shik was appointed, and all the assistant coaches were changed. In addition, the team’s main shooter, Jeon Seong-hyun, also decided to follow the previous coach to the Goyang Carrot Jumpers. Although the remaining roster still had talent, many experts predicted that KGC would not easily fill the hole that Jeon Seong-hyun, the league’s best 3pt shooter left.

Even when Jeon Seong-hyun was with the club, KGC has never achieved such strong results so early into the season. Many experts attribute this to the returned sixth man, Bae Byung-Jun, as the reason why KGC has been so successful.

Bae Byung-Jun was a free agent this off-season and chose to return to KGC on a one-year deal worth around USD 90K. Despite being on a one-year deal, KGC’s head coach has strong trust in Bae Byung-Jun,who has become the starting shooting guard.

He has played an average of 26 minutes in nine games, scoring 9.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists. This is the most playing time Bae Byung-Joon has seen in his entire career by more than double.

Bae Byung-Jun was known as a role player, a backup sixth man who plays good defense and can shoot well from beyond the arch. He’s proven scouts wrong as he’s been given more playing time with Anyang KGC. He is not only a skilled three-point shooter, but he is also capable of running high-level fast breaks and be a facilitator for his teammates. Jeon Seong-hyun's defense was weak when compared to his overwhelming offensive abilities, but Bae Byung-Jun is able to contribute on both ends of the floor.

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Bae Byung-Jun is a player with many stories. He has not had a major breakout game since his debut with Changwon LG in 2012. Then, he moved to KGC in 2018 and met head coach Kim Seung-ki. At this time, he began to gain some attention as a potential sixth man. Then he chose to transfer to play for the Seoul SK Knights in 2020. It was a natural decision for a professional player to go to a team offering him the most financial benefits. However, he didn’t have much playing time with the Knights because of their deep roster.

Now he is back with KGC, where he knows theteam culture well and he is betting on himself. In fact, he rejected multi-year contract offers and opted for a one-year deal to re-open the market next off-season.

Coach Kim Sang-Shik, who was newly appointed to the team for 22-23 KBL season, saw Bae Byung-Jun’s work ethic and play in the off-season and made him the starter ever since the KBL cup, which is the pre-season tournament for the KBL teams. He was sure of Bae Byung-Jun success,and that belief has been paying dividends.

EASL wants to ask KBL fans as well: Will KGC continue to build on this momentum during EASL Champions Week? Will Bae continue to prove his skill and talent against the best of the best teams in the East Asia region?

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