Choi Jun-yong ( ko, 최준용 ; 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 (appr ...

player for

Seoul SK Knights The Seoul SK Knights ( ko, 서울 SK 나이츠) 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 clu ...

and the South Korean national team.

Career

High school and college career

Choi attended

Kyungbock High School Kyungbock High School () is one of the oldest modern secondary school in South Korea. It is located in Jongno-gu, Seoul, near Gyeongbok Palace, after which it is named. It was established on April 18, 1921. The school's original name was the No. 2 ...

and was classmates with

Lee Jong-hyun Lee Jong-hyun (born May 15, 1990) 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 omnibus movie '' Acoustic'' in 2010, fol ...

. While at Kyungbock, he, Lee and their senior Moon Seong-gon, 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 research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

while Choi was recruited by

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 th ...

. 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 MBC Cup (Korean: MBC배) is an annual competition organized by the Korea University Basketball Federation (Korean: 한국대학농구연맹) and sponsored by broadcaster Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). It is one of the oldest basketball ...

, 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 currently plays for Suwon KT Sonicboom in the Korean Basketball League and the South Korean national team. Early life Heo enjoyed playing various sports from ...

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 Kang Sang-jae (born 31 December 1994) is a South Korean professional basketball player. He began his career with the Korean Basketball League side Incheon Electroland Elephants and is now playing for Wonju DB Promy. Early years A native of D ...

, 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 Kim Sun-hyung (born July 1, 1988) is a South Korean professional basketball player. He plays for Seoul SK Knights in the Korean Basketball League and the South Korean national team. Early life A native of Incheon, Kim initially harbored dre ...

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 The Korean Basketball League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) (Korean language, Korean: 국내선수 MVP) is an annual Korean Basketball League (KBL) award given since 1997 to the best performing player of the regular season. It is only awarded to d ...

and won his second KBL championship.

National team

He participated at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup.2017 FIBA Asia Cup profile
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References

External links

Career Statistics
from the

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 ...

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 Asian Games medalists in basketball 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Kyungbock High School alumni Yonsei University alumni 21st-century South Korean people