Asian Games Gold Medalists Return... Professional Basketball Preseason Games Begin the Day After Tomorrow

Ahead of the opening of the 2026-2027 season, professional basketball is set to greet fans early this weekend.

The KBL will hold the preseason "Open Match Day" from the 24th to the 27th, which falls during the Chuseok holiday, with all 10 professional basketball clubs playing two matches each.

This preseason features players who secured a gold medal in men's basketball at the Asian Games for the first time in 12 years, returning to their respective teams to build excitement ahead of the professional basketball season opener.

Among the 12 gold medal-winning players, those belonging to the KBL include Lee Jeong-hyeon (Sono), Moon Yu-hyeon, Byun Jun-hyung (both of Jung Kwan Jang), Mun Jung-hyun (kt), DANIELLE (SK), Yoohyeon (LG), Lee Seung-hyun (Hyundai Mobis), and Jang Jae-seok (KCC).

Choi Jun-yong, who led Busan KCC to victory last season, has been placed on the voluntarily retired players list to pursue an opportunity in the United States.

Starting this season, regulations have changed to allow a maximum of two foreign players per team to play simultaneously during the second and third quarters.

As the importance of foreign players has grown further, each team will use the preseason to fine-tune the chemistry between their newly reinforced foreign players and domestic players.

On the 24th, the opening day of the preseason, matches will take place between Daegu KOGAS Corporation and Ulsan Hyundai Mobis, Wonju DB and Seoul Samsung, and Goyang Sono and Seoul SK.

Each team will play two games in a home-and-away format, though Changwon LG will play both of its games on the road due to renovations at its home arena.

The 2026-2027 professional basketball regular season will kick off on October 3, with each team playing 54 games for a total of 270 games, and concluding on April 11 of next year.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.