"Petty Trick": South Korean Men's Basketball Team Left Stranded Again on Departure Day

The South Korean men's basketball team reportedly faced another ordeal after their victory, waiting for a long time for a bus that failed to arrive on their way back home.

Yeo Jun-seok of the South Korean men's basketball team posted a photo on his social media showing the national team waiting for a bus, along with the caption, "Even on the day we leave, the bus is still not coming."

The released photo shows the players standing with numerous pieces of luggage, waiting for a bus that has not arrived.

One player is seen lying face down on top of a suitcase while looking at his smartphone, while another player appears completely exhausted, resting in an uncomfortable position with his head down on a bag strap to catch some sleep.

This follows an absurd incident yesterday, the day of the final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Games, when the vehicle scheduled to transport the team to the training ground failed to show up, preventing the team from practicing.

The national team had planned to warm up with a morning training session at the gymnasium ahead of the final against Japan. However, the vehicle scheduled to arrive at the accommodation at 10:00 AM did not show up without any explanation, ultimately forcing the cancellation of the training schedule.

With the final opponent being Japan, suspicions were even raised that it might have been a petty trick intended to unsettle the South Korean players.

In response to this incident, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee sent a letter of protest to the organizing committee and requested a meeting with high-ranking officials of the committee.

Despite these poor conditions yesterday, the South Korean national team defeated Japan 67 to 57 to claim the Asian Games gold medal for the first time in 12 years.

(Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Design by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.