Kim Joo-sung ( ko, 김주성; born 9 November 1979) 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 ...

coach and retired player. A

forward-center Forward–center or bigman is a basketball position for players who play or have played both forward and center on a consistent basis. Typically, this means power forward and center, since these are usually the two biggest player positions on an ...

, he spent his entire sixteen-year playing career with

Wonju DB Promy The Wonju DB Promy is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League (KBL), located in the city of Wonju. From its founding in 1996, the team has always been based in its home province of Gangwon. It has the rare distinction of be ...

. Since 2019 he has been a coach at Wonju DB Promy.

Early life

A native of

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, Kim grew up in the district of

Haeundae-gu Haeundae District ( ko, 해운대구) is a district ( ''gu'') of Busan, South Korea. Haeundae has a population of about 423,000, the most populous district of Busan with 11.6% of the city population, and covers an area of 51.44 km² (19.8 ...

. Kim only began focusing on basketball in high school, relatively late compared to many of his KBL peers. His younger sister Kim Hyang-ran is a former volleyball player. The siblings had a financially unstable upbringing as their childhood coincided with the

1997 Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

, which greatly affected South Korea, and both their parents had physical disabilities caused by polio and scoliosis.

College career

Kim played college basketball at

Chung-Ang University Chung-Ang University (CAU; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is widely regarded as one of the best universities in South Korea. The university operates two campuses: main campus located in Dongjak District, Seoul, and a ...

and drew comparisons to

Seo Jang-hoon Seo Jang-hoon (; born 3 June 1974) is a South Korean former professional basketball player, who is currently active as an entertainer and variety show star. Early life Seo attended Whimoon High School, known as one Seoul's high school basketball ...

for his height. During the 2000 National Basketball Festival tournament, he ranked first in rebounds and points scored and named the MVP. His stellar performances in other Korea University Basketball Federation tournaments earned him a call-up to the national team.

Playing career

Wonju TG Xers / Wonju DB Promy

After college, Kim joined the Wonju TG Xers. He was the first overall pick of the 2002 KBL rookie draft. Kim had one of the best rookie recording averages with 17.04 points, 8.72 rebounds, 2.24 assists, and 2.07 blocks in the season. In addition, he helped the team win the championship keeping the goal in the post-season of the 2002-2003 league. Kim averaged 18.85 points, 8.85 rebounds, and 2.43 shoot-blocks and won the Most Valuable Player of the league in the 2003–2004 season. However, the Xers failed to win the championship of 2003–2004, losing to

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– ...

. In spite of the team's loss, The Xers won the championship in the 2004–2005 season, and Kim won the Most Valuable Player of the post-season for the first time. The Xers was taken over by

Dongbu Group DB Group, formerly Dongbu Group, is a large South Korean '' chaebol'' (conglomerate), producing industry, chemical, insurance and financial products. It was established in January 1969 by Junki Kim as Miryung Construction Company, Ltd. Subsidia ...

, was reorganized to

Wonju Dongbu Promy The Wonju DB Promy is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League (KBL), located in the city of Wonju. From its founding in 1996, the team has always been based in its home province of Gangwon. It has the rare distinction of be ...

, later shortened to Wonju DB Promy due to the company's rebranding. Though the Promy took third place, they failed in the playoff, losing to Daegu Orions. The next year, Kim was injured and could not participate. Therefore, Promy ranked eighth in the league and did not qualify for the play-offs. In the 2007–2008 season, his team won the championship by defeating

Seoul Samsung Thunders Seoul Samsung Thunders ( ko, 서울 삼성 썬더스) is a professional basketball team, competing in the Korean Basketball League. Ever since the club was founded in 1978, they have been associated with Samsung Electronics. Initially based in Su ...

. Kim 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 ...

for the second time and led the league in blocks that season. During the 2011–12 season, Kim was a key player in Dongbu's defensive prowess, which led to the team earning the nickname "Dongbu Mountain Fortress". Along with center

Rod Benson Rodrique Zsorryon Benson (born October 10, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He works as a blog writer and an artist. Career High school Benson attended Torrey Pines High School, and averaged 14 points, 8.5 rebounds an ...

(206 meters) and forward Yoon Ho-young (197 meters), the trio were dubbed the "Triple Posts of the Dongbu Mountain Fortress" by the press after shutting down some of the league's best offensive players. Kim went on to win the

KBL Defensive Player of the Year The Korean Basketball League Defensive Player of the Year Award (Korean: 최우수수비상) is an annual Korean Basketball League (KBL) award given to the best defensive player during the regular season. The awardee is selected from players voted ...

award while Yoon was named regular season MVP and Benson won the Foreign Player of the Year award. Kim announced that he would be retiring after the 2017-18 season. Although he was mostly the

sixth man The sixth man in basketball is a player who is not a starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves, often being the first player to be substituted in. The sixth man often plays minutes equal to or exceeding some of the sta ...

, he played a crucial role in Promy finishing at the top of the league. He was nominated for the Defensive Player of the Year and won the Sixth Man Award at the annual KBL awards. Kim is the first player to exceed 1000 blocks in the KBL, earning him the nickname "Emperor of Blocks" (블록슛 황제). He was ranked second, behind

, for the all-time most number of rebounds in KBL history; Seo's record was eventually surpassed by

Ra Gun-ah Ra Gun-ah (Korean: 라건아; born Ricardo Preston Ratliffe; February 20, 1989) is an American-born South Korean basketball player for Jeonju KCC Egis of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) and the South Korea national basketball team. Ra played ...

in January 2022. He was the league's highest-paid domestic player from 2004 to 2012. In December 2018, Wonju DB Promy announced that his number 32 jersey would be permanently retired, the club's second jersey to be retired after his former teammate

Hur Jae Hur Jae (born September 28, 1965) is a South Korean retired basketball coach and former player. His playing and coaching career combined spanned over three decades, beginning during the semi-professional era and coinciding with the establishmen ...

National team

Kim was first called up to the senior national team while in college. He won two gold medals at the Asian Games, the 2002 and 2014 editions.

Coaching career

Kim returned to his former team in 2019 as a member of the coaching staff. Since the 2020-21 season, he also oversees the club's D League reserve team.

Personal life

Kim married Korean-American entrepreneur Park Ji-sun in 2008 after an eight-year courtship. They have two daughters. Kim's sixteen-year playing career with

overlapped with that of

and the latter's older son

Heo Ung Heo Ung (born August 5, 1993) is a South Korean professional basketball player. He plays for Jeonju KCC Egis in the Korean Basketball League and the South Korean national team. Early life Heo only began focusing on basketball in middle sch ...

, who was drafted by Promy in 2014. It marked a rare instance in domestic basketball of a player being teammates with both a father-son duo for the same professional team.

References

External links

Profile
at KBL.or.kr
Profile
on the Wonju Dongbu Promy website
Profile
on Asia-Basket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Joo-Sung 1979 births Living people 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players Asian Games medalists in basketball Basketball players at the 1998 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2002 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2006 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2010 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2014 Asian Games Centers (basketball) Chung-Ang University alumni Korean Basketball League players Sportspeople from Busan South Korean men's basketball players Wonju DB Promy players Power forwards (basketball) Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games 1998 FIBA World Championship players Korean Basketball League players with retired numbers