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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who has played in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

and the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

. 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 colle ...

. 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 in

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 Yang Hee-jong (born 11 May 1984) is a South Korean professional basketball player. He plays for the Anyang KGC of the Korean Basketball League and the South Korean national team. Early life Yang is a native of Suwon and had been a star taekw ...

, 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 the ...

. 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 world' ...

in 2004 to prepare himself for the

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

. He played briefly with the

Portland Reign 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 ...

of the ABA. 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 The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, 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, Sout ...

on March 28, 2006, where he played for five games but did not make an impact. When fellow Blazer centers

Theo Ratliff Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...

and

Joel Przybilla Joel Przybilla (; born October 10, 1979) is an American retired professional basketball player who played the center position for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). High school career Przybilla was born in Monticello, Minn ...

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 The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

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 The South Korea men's national basketball team represents South Korea in international men's basketball competitions. It is administered by the Korea Basketball Association (). Based on the number of overall medals won, South Korea is a major ...

in the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship,

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.

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, a ...

's sports channel KBS N Sports and mainly commentates for

Women's Korean Basketball League The Women's Korean Basketball League (WKBL) (Hangul: 한국여자프로농구) is the premier professional women's basketball league in South Korea. The league was established in 1998. Current clubs See also * Korean Basketball League Th ...

(WKBL) games. He was a guest commentator for basketball events at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Personal life

Ha is the younger of two children. His older sister,

Ha Eun-joo Ha may refer to: Agencies and organizations * Health authority * Hells Angels Motorcycle Club * Highways Agency (now ''National Highways''), UK government body maintaining England's major roads * Homelessness Australia, peak body organisation ...

, 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 of the

WJBL WJBL (93.1 FM; "93.1 The Cabin") is a radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ladysmith, Wisconsin, United States, the station is owned by Michael Oberg and George Manus, through licensee Zoe Communications Co., Inc. It ...

. In July 2006, she signed with Incheon Shinhan Bank S-Birds 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, 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 Social Science Campus is located in Seoul and th ...

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 (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

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