▲ Head Coach Nikolais Mazurs and players of the men's national basketball team shout fighting during a training session ahead of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at the Jincheon National Training Center in North Chungcheong Province on the 3rd.
The men's national basketball team will head to Japan for away friendly matches without their "ace" Lee Hyun-jung and forward Ahn Young-jun (SK).
The Korea Basketball Association announced that 12 players, excluding Lee Hyun-jung and Ahn Young-jun, will participate in the away friendly matches against Japan held in Tokyo on the 15th and 16th.
The men's national basketball team is heading to Japan for away friendlies to check their performance in preparation for Window 4 of the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Initially, 16 players were called up, but Song Kyo-chang (Osaka Evessa) and Choi Jun-yong (Busan KCC) were dropped late last month due to injuries.
In addition, Lee Hyun-jung was invited to mini-camps by the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans and Boston Celtics, deciding not to participate in this Japan trip, while Ahn Young-jun, who is recovering from ankle surgery, decided to focus on rehabilitation.
Lee Hyun-jung and Ahn Young-jun are scheduled to participate in the World Cup Asian Qualifiers Window 4 away match against Lebanon on the 27th and the home match against Saudi Arabia on the 31st.
Meanwhile, the women's national basketball team, which will also play friendly matches against Japan in Tokyo on the 13th and 14th, will send 11 players out of 13 trainees, excluding Park Ji-su (KB), who is recovering from ankle surgery, and Park Ji-hyun (Los Angeles Sparks), who is fulfilling her WNBA schedule.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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