Korean Basketball League

Korean Basketball League (KBL)

Current season, competition or edition: 2011–12 KBL season
File:Korean Basketball League.jpg Logo KBL
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1997
First season	1997
No. of teams	10
Country	South Korea
Continent	FIBA Asia (Asia)
Most recent champion(s)	Jeonju KCC Egis (5th)
Most titles	Jeonju KCC Egis (5)
Official website	www.KBL.or.kr

The Korean Basketball League, often abbreviated to the KBL, is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in South Korea. Its inaugural season was in 1997. The season starts in October and ends in April the following year. The KBL consists of 10 teams. Each team plays 54 games (27 home games, 27 road games). Each team is allowed to have 2 foreign players. Foreign players in the league are almost always either a forward or center. Formerly, foreign players were not allowed to exceed 2.03 m (6 feet, 8 inches) in height, although that rule has since been revoked.

Current clubs

There are currently 10 clubs in the KBL:

Ulsan

Busan

Seoul SK
& Seoul Samsung

Anyang

Goyang

Incheon

Changwon

Jeonju

Wonju

• Ulsan Mobis Phoebus
  • Busan Kia Enterprise (1997 ~ 2000–2001)
  • Ulsan Mobis Automons (2001–2002 ~ 2003–2004)
  • Ulsan Mobis Phoebus (2004–2005 ~ )

• Seoul Samsung Thunders
  • Suwon Samsung Thunders (1997 ~ 2000–2001)
  • Seoul Samsung Thunders (2001–2002 ~ )

• Anyang KGC
  • Anyang SBS Stars (1997 ~ 2004–2005)
  • Anyang KT&G Kites (2005–2006 ~ 2009–2010)
  • Anyang KGC (2010–2011 ~ )

• Seoul SK Knights
  • Cheongju Jinro McCass (1997. 1 ~ 1997. 9)
  • Cheongju SK Knights (1997–1998 ~ 2000–2001)
  • Seoul SK Knights (2001–2002 ~ )

• Changwon LG Sakers
  • Gyeongnam LG Sakers (1997–1998)
  • Changwon LG Sakers (1998–1999 ~ )

• Goyang Orions
  • Daegu Tongyang Orions (1997 ~ 2002–2003)
  • Daegu Orions (2003–2004 ~ 2010–2011)
  • Goyang Orions (2011–2012 ~ )

• Incheon ET Land Elephants
  • Incheon Daewoo Securities Zeus (1997 ~ 1997–1998)
  • Incheon Daewoo Zeus (1998–1999)
  • Incheon Shinsegi Bigs (1999–2000 ~ 2000–2001)
  • Incheon SK Bigs (2001–2002 ~ 2002–2003)
  • Incheon ET Land Black Slamer (2003–2004 ~ 2008–2009)
  • Incheon ET Land Elephants (2009–2010 ~ )

• Jeonju KCC Egis
  • Daejeon Hyundai Dynat (1997 ~ 1998–1999)
  • Daejeon Hyundai Gullivers (1999–2000 ~ 2000–2001)
  • Jeonju KCC Egis (2001–2002 ~ )

• Busan KT Sonicboom
  • Gwangju Nasan Flamans (1997 ~ 1998–1999)
  • Gwangju Goldbank Clickers (1999–2000)
  • Yeosu Goldbank Clickers (2000–2001)
  • Yeosu Korea Tender Prumi (2001–2002 ~ 2002–2003)
  • Busan Korea Tender Maxten (2003–2004)
  • Busan KTF Magic Wings (2003–2004 ~ 2008–2009)
  • Busan KT Sonicboom (2009–2010 ~ )

• Wonju Dongbu Promy
  • Wonju Naray Blue Bird (1997 ~ 1998–1999)
  • Wonju Naray Hackers (1999. 8 ~ 1999. 10)
  • Wonju Sambo Xers (1999–2000 ~ 2001–2002)
  • Wonju TG Xers (2002–2003 ~ 2003–2004)
  • Wonju TG Sambo Xers (2003–2004 ~ 2004–2005)
  • Wonju Dongbu Promy (2005–2006 ~ )

Reserve league

• Seoul SK Knights (2009–2010 ~ )
• Incheon ET Land Elephants (2009–2010 ~ )
• Busan KT Sonicboom (2009–2010 ~ )
• Goyang Orions (2009–2010 ~ 2010–2011)
• Sangmu Basketball Team (2009–2010 ~ )
• Jeonju KCC Egis (2010–2011 ~ )

Results

Finals

Year	Champions	Result	Runners-up	Playoffs MVP
1997	Busan Kia Enterprise	4–1	Wonju Naray Blue Bird	Kang Dong-Hee (Kia)
1997–1998	Daejeon Hyundai Dynat	4–3	Busan Kia Enterprise	Hur Jae (Kia)
1998–1999	Daejeon Hyundai Dynat	4–1	Busan Kia Enterprise	Cho Sung-Won (Hyundai)
1999–2000	Cheongju SK Knights	4–2	Daejeon Hyundai Gullivers	Seo Jang-Hoon (SK)
2000–2001	Suwon Samsung Thunders	4–1	Changwon LG Sakers	Joo Hee-Jung (Samsung)
2001–2002	Daegu Tongyang Orions	4–3	Seoul SK Knights	Marcus Hicks (Tongyang)
2002–2003	Wonju TG Xers	4–2	Daegu Tongyang Orions	David Jackson (TG)
2003–2004	Jeonju KCC Egis	4–3	Wonju TG Sambo Xers	Lee Sang-Min (KCC)
2004–2005	Wonju TG Sambo Xers	4–2	Jeonju KCC Egis	Kim Joo-Sung (TG Sambo)
2005–2006	Seoul Samsung Thunders	4–0	Ulsan Mobis Phoebus	Kang Hyuk (Samsung)
2006–2007	Ulsan Mobis Phoebus	4–3	Busan KTF Magic Wings	Yang Dong-Geun (Mobis)
2007–2008	Wonju Dongbu Promy	4–1	Seoul Samsung Thunders	Kim Joo-Sung (Dongbu)
2008–2009	Jeonju KCC Egis	4–3	Seoul Samsung Thunders	Choo Seung-Kyun (KCC)
2009–2010	Ulsan Mobis Phoebus	4–2	Jeonju KCC Egis	Ham Ji-Hoon (Mobis)
2010–2011	Jeonju KCC Egis	4–2	Wonju Dongbu Promy	Ha Seung-Jin (KCC)
2011–2012	Anyang KGC	4–2	Wonju Dongbu Promy	Oh Se-Keun (KGC)

Titles by club

Rank	Club	Titles	Year
1	Jeonju KCC Egis	5	1998, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2011
2	Wonju Dongbu Promy	3	2003, 2005, 2008
	Ulsan Mobis Phoebus	3	1997, 2007, 2010
4	Seoul Samsung Thunders	2	2001, 2006
5	Seoul SK Knights	1	2000
	Goyang Orions	1	2002
	Anyang KGC	1	2012

Prize money

• Champions (Finals winners)
  • KRW 100,000,000 + Trophy (1997 ~ )

• Runners-up (Finals losers)
  • KRW 50,000,000 (1997 ~ )

• Regular Season 1st place
  • KRW 50,000,000 + Trophy (1997 ~ 2004–2005)
  • KRW 100,000,000 + Trophy (2005–2006 ~ )

• Regular Season 2nd place
  • KRW 30,000,000 (1997 ~ 2004–2005)
  • KRW 50,000,000 (2005–2006 ~ )

• Regular Season 3rd place
  • KRW 20,000,000 (1997 ~ 2004–2005)
  • KRW 30,000,000 (2005–2006 ~ )

See also

• Women's Korean Basketball League
• List of Korea-related topics
• Korean Basketball League Ethnic Draft

External links

• Official KBL website (Korean & English)