Ha Seung-Jin (born August 4, 1985) is a South Korean former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who has played in the NBA and the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. He was a second round draft pick (46th overall) of the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

in the

2004 NBA Draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur col ...

. At 7 ft 3 in, 305 lb, he was among the largest players in the NBA. He is also the first (and as of October 2022, only) South Korean to play in the NBA.

Early life and college career

Ha Seung-jin attended his father's alma mater

Samil Commercial High School SAMIL Trucks (South African MILitary) are the standard logistical transport vehicles of the South African National Defence Force (and its predecessor the South African Defence Force). SAMILs are currently re-manufactured by Truck-Makers in Ros ...

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

with his childhood friend Yang Hee-jong, who was a year older. The duo led Samil's basketball team to its first ever national championship title. He initially planned on entering the

2003 NBA Draft The 2003 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2003, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The NBA announced that 41 college and high school players and a record 31 international players had filed as early-entry candidates ...

held in June but decided on playing college basketball first and accepted an early offer from

Yonsei University Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the " SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in t ...

. It meant that he would be allowed to join the Yonsei team for the 2003 fall semester despite still being a high school senior. His contemporaries at Yonsei included Yang and future

Jeonju KCC Egis The Jeonju KCC Egis is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League. Current roster Enlisted players Honours Domestic Korean Basketball League *KBL Championship :: Winners (5): 1997–98, 1998� ...

teammate

Kim Tae-sul Kim Tae-sul (born August 13, 1984) is a South Korean retired basketball player. During his fourteen-year professional career, Kim played for five different teams, the longest stint being at Anyang KGC where he won the KBL Championship. He was als ...

. After playing only seven games for Yonsei, he left for the United States to join the

Professional career

NBA career (2004–2007)

Ha arrived in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

in 2004 to prepare himself for the

. Ha was drafted with the 46th overall selection by the

. He played briefly with the Portland Reign of the

ABA ABA may refer to: Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, United States * Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Japanese television station * Australian Broadcasting Authority Education * Académie des Beaux- ...

. Ha joined the Portland Trail Blazers in the middle of the 2004-05 season. Ha played in only 19 games that season, averaging 5.5 minutes per game; however, on April 20 against the Los Angeles Lakers, he scored a career high 13 points to help the Trail Blazers win the game. During the 2005-06 season Ha was assigned to the

Fort Worth Flyers The Fort Worth Flyers were a minor league basketball team in the NBA Development League (D-League) based in Fort Worth, Texas. They began play in the 2005–06 season and were shut down for the 2007–08 season. Franchise history In 2005, Sou ...

on March 28, 2006, where he played for five games but did not make an impact. When fellow Blazer centers Theo Ratliff and Joel Przybilla were unable to play due to injury, Ha started four games, averaging 11 minutes playing time. On July 31, 2006, Ha was traded to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in a four-player deal. On October 28, 2006 (prior to the start of the 2006-07 season), he was waived by the Bucks. He was acquired by the Anaheim Arsenal of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

on December 31, 2006, whom he spent time with.

Jeonju KCC Egis (2008–2019)

Ha returned to South Korea and joined the 2008

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League (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 season. H ...

draft, signing with

. He won the 2009 and 2011 KBL Championships, winning the play-offs MVP in the latter. After the 2018-19 season ended, he became a free agent and chose to retire rather than re-sign or join another team.

National team

Ha has represented the South Korea national basketball team in the

2009 FIBA Asia Championship The 2009 FIBA Asia Championship for Men was the biennial Asian continental championship and also served as the FIBA Asia qualifying tournament for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. The tournament was held from August 6 to 16, 2009 in Tianjin, China ...

2010 Asian Games The 2010 Asian Games (), officially known as the XVI Asian Games () and also known as Guangzhou 2010 (), was a regional multi-sport event celebrated from November 12 to November 27, 2010 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, although several events ...

, and

2011 FIBA Asia Championship The 2011 FIBA Asia Championship for Men is the intercontinental championship for basketball organized by FIBA Asia that doubles as a qualifying tournament for the Basketball at the Summer Olympics, men's basketball tournament of the 2012 Summer Oly ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;",

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 19 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .435 , , .000 , , .545 , , .9 , , .1 , , .1 , , .3 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005–06 , style="text-align:left;", Portland , 27 , , 4 , , 7.9 , , .581 , , .000 , , .471 , , 1.8 , , .0 , , .1 , , .3 , , 1.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 46 , , 4 , , 6.9 , , .519 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , .1 , , .3 , , 1.5 , -

Post-retirement

In 2020, Ha became a commentator for the

Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, ...

's sports channel KBS N Sports and mainly commentates for Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) games. He was a guest commentator for basketball events at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Ha is the younger of two children. His older sister, Ha Eun-joo, is also a professional basketball player. A 6'8" center, she signed with

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

of the WNBA on February 6, 2006, and was later waived on May 19, for failing to arrive in Los Angeles due to a conflicting contract with

Chanson V-Magic The Chanson V-Magic are a basketball team based in Shizuoka, Shizuoka, playing in the Women's Japan Basketball League. Notable players *Anne Donovan * Maki Eguchi * Saori Fujiyoshi * Ha Eun-ju * Aki Ichijō * Sachiko Ishikawa *Tammy Jackson * Hiroe ...

of the WJBL. In July 2006, she signed with

Incheon Shinhan Bank S-Birds Incheon Shinhan Bank S-Birds ( ko, 인천 신한은행 에스버드) is a professional basketball club in the Women's Korean Basketball League The Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) (Hangul: 한국여자프로농구) is the premier professi ...

of the WKBL. Their father Ha Dong-gi is a former basketball player-turned-coach who played for

Myongji University Myongji University () is a Private university, private, Christianity in Korea, Christian university founded in 1948 in South Korea. It provides higher education in the fields of engineering, sciences and humanities. It has two campuses: the Socia ...

and gave up the sport due to chronic injury problems. Ha Dong-gi had been a member of the

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...

which won silver at the

1978 Asian Games The 8th Asian Games () were held from 9 to 20 December 1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems. Then Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, was de ...

. Ha married Kim Hwa-yeong in 2012. They have a son (born in 2012) and a daughter (born in 2017).

Filmography

Television show

Notes

External links

Profile at NBA.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ha, Seung-Jin 1985 births Living people Anaheim Arsenal players Asian Games medalists in basketball Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Basketball players at the 2006 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2010 Asian Games Centers (basketball) Fort Worth Flyers players Jeonju KCC Egis players Korean Basketball League players Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games National Basketball Association players from South Korea People from Suwon Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers players South Korean expatriate basketball people in the United States South Korean men's basketball players South Korean basketball commentators Yonsei University alumni Sportspeople from Gyeonggi Province