‘Legend’ Laguna’s last dance… Heo Woong “The Beauty of Yujong”

Professional basketball player La Gun-ah (35) of Busan KCC is a legend representing Korean basketball in name and reality. He has continued to perform well not only in KBL but also in the national team as a naturalized player. La Gun-ah, who acquired Korean nationality through special naturalization in 2018 and participated in two consecutive Asian Games, recently put down the Taegeuk symbol. On the professional stage, he achieved milestones such as winning the KBL championship game four times and being the Best Foreign Player (MVP) three times. He recorded 700 career blocks, the second most ever, and more than 11,000 points, the most by a foreigner.

This kind of Laguna is about to perform ‘Last Dance’. This is because it is unclear what will happen after the playoffs in the 2023-2024 season. It is unclear whether Laguna, whose three-year contract with KCC ends at the end of this season, will remain on the domestic stage. This is why KCC’s ‘superstar’ Heo Woong and coach Jeon Chang-jin are looking forward to his final journey.

KCC begins spring basketball starting with the first game of the semifinals PO (3 wins out of 5) against Seoul SK held at Jamsil Student Gymnasium in Seoul on the 4th. KCC, who recruited Choi Jun-yong ahead of this season and formed a super team with Heo Woong, La Geon-ah, and Song Kyo-chang, took pride in finishing the regular league in 5th place.

Now is the time to regain your pride on the PO stage. The opponent is SK, where Jamil Warney, a natural ‘scoring machine’, is holding out. From Laguna’s perspective, he must block Warnie, who is a burdensome opponent, as much as possible. At the same time, the offense must provide at least a certain amount of scoring support.

As the performance of foreign players in short-term matches is important, expectations for them are also high. At the 2023-2024 Professional Basketball PO Media Day held at the Olympic Parktel in Songpa-gu, Seoul on the 2nd, Heo Woong said, “This is Laguna’s last season at KCC. I don’t know if he will continue to play in Korea in the future, but he expressed his determination to give 150% in this PO. “I look forward to his performance,” he said.

Director Jeon Chang-jin also did not hide his expectations for Laguna. Coach Jeon said, “SK is a tough opponent because they have a solid scorer named Warney. However, as Heo Woong said, I believe that Laguna will do a good job blocking,” he said. “The defense was evaluated as weak during the regular season, but I believe that the players will do their best due to the nature of PO.”

Laguna’s will to live up to these expectations is also great. In fact, La Gun-ah once again proved his class at the end of his regular season. In the home game against Ulsan Hyundai Mobis on the 29th of last month, he scored 43 points, his personal highest in one game, leading his team to a 110-103 victory.

Meanwhile, even if KCC defeats SK, it will meet Wonju DB, the No. 1 team in the regular league, in the semifinal PO. DB, led by coach Kim Joo-seong, achieved a wire-to-wire victory this season with overwhelming momentum and never coming down from the lead. Fans are paying close attention to whether La Gun-ah and KCC will emerge as the final winners and achieve great success.

Reporter Jang Han-seo [email protected]

[ⓒ 세계일보 & Segye.com, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]