Choi Jun-yong (; born April 4, 1994) is a South Korean

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for

Busan KCC Egis The Busan KCC Egis () is a professional basketball club based in Busan, South Korea. The team competes in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and has established a substantial fanbase in South Korea. Founded in 1997, the team was initially based i ...

and the South Korean national team. He has previously also played for the

Seoul SK Knights The Seoul SK Knights () is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League. The club was originally founded by Jinro Group in 1997 as Cheongju Jinro McCass. Before the official launch of the basketball club, Jinro Group filed fo ...

Career

High school and college career

Choi attended Kyungbock High School and was classmates with

Lee Jong-hyun Lee Jong-hyun (born May 15, 1990), also known by his mononym Jonghyun, is a South Korean musician, singer-songwriter and actor. He was the former lead guitarist and vocalist of South Korean rock band CNBLUE. He made his acting debut in an om ...

. While at Kyungbock, he, Lee and their senior

Moon Seong-gon Moon Seong-gon (born 9 May 1993) is a South Korean professional basketball player. He currently plays Suwon KT Sonicboom in the Korean Basketball League and the South Korean national team. Early life A native of Busan, Moon began playing bask ...

, were dubbed the "Kyungbock Trio" by rival high school teams for their well-rounded offensive capabilities. Moon and Lee went on to

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a Private university, private research university in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 1905 by Yi Yong-ik, Lee Yong-Ik, a prominent official of the Korean Empire, Korea University is among South Korea's oldest List of ...

while Choi was recruited by

Yonsei University Yonsei University () is a Private university, private Christian university, Christian research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Yonsei is one of the three most prestigious universities in the country, part of a group referred to as SK ...

. During his senior year, Choi captained Yonsei to a clean sweep of the

U-League The U-League, officially KUSF College Sports U-League (Korean: KUSF 대학스포츠 U-리그), is operated by the Korea University Sports Federation (KUSF), the organization which oversees college sports in South Korea. The KUSF U-League operates in ...

regular season title and championship and the MBC Cup, the first time since 2005 Yonsei has won it. He was also named MVP of the MBC Cup tournament. At that time his teammates included future MVP

Heo Hoon Heo Hoon (born 16 August 1995) is a South Korean professional basketball player. He plays for Suwon KT Sonicboom of the Korean Basketball League and the South Korea national team. Early life Heo enjoyed playing various sports from a young ag ...

and future KBL Rookie of the Year Ahn Young-joon. He declared eligibility for the 2016 KBL draft.

Professional

Choi was considered one of the "big 3", along with Lee and Kang Sang-jae, of the 2016 KBL rookie draft and strong contenders for the first pick of the first round. He was drafted by

as the second pick. After an uneventful rookie season, Choi began to grow into his role during the 2017-18 season and played a bigger role in Seoul SK Knights' second-place finish in the regular season and KBL Championship win. He averaged 9.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. After a 2018-19 season mostly plagued by injury, he returned to the side but found himself having to battle with veteran Kim Sun-hyung for a spot in the starting 5. On December 8, 2020, it was reported that Choi had been suspended for three games by his team after he accidentally leaked a nude photograph of his teammate on his social media. He and his team immediately posted an apology, explaining that the teammate involved was also a close friend and had accepted the apology and that Choi would serve the suspension with immediate effect. The KBL further extended the suspension to five games and fined him 3 million won. In the 2021–22 season, Choi won the KBL Most Valuable Player Award and won his second KBL championship.

National team

He participated at the

2017 FIBA Asia Cup The 2017 FIBA Asia Cup (formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship) was the 29th continental basketball championship in Asia. The tournament was organised by FIBA Asia. It took place from 8 to 20 August 2017, a week earlier from the initial sche ...

.2017 FIBA Asia Cup profile
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References

External links

Career Statistics
from the

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League () or simply KBL is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular s ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Jun-yong 1994 births Living people South Korean men's basketball players Sportspeople from Daegu Guards (basketball) Basketball players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Kyungbock High School alumni Yonsei University alumni 21st-century South Korean sportsmen Asian Games bronze medalists in basketball Asian Games basketball players for South Korea