Best Friends and Rivals Who Won Gold Together Compete Fiercely for No. 1 Draft Pick

[Anchor]

The professional basketball rookie draft is scheduled to be held this month. Lee Ju-young and Lee Dong-keun, who teamed up to win the first-ever gold medal in 3x3 basketball at the Asian Games, are competing fiercely for the number one pick.

Reporter Kim Hyeong-yeol met with the two players, who are both best friends and fierce rivals.

[Reporter]

Korea University's Lee Dong-keun, who dominates the paint with powerful dunks, and Yonsei University's Lee Ju-young, who fires shots from both inside and outside, became close friends after sweating together for a year and combining forces to win the first 3x3 basketball gold medal at the Nagoya Asian Games.

[Lee Ju-young / Yonsei University Guard: After spending a year together as family on the national team, playing alongside Dong-keun felt so comfortable and great.]

[Lee Dong-keun / Korea University Forward: Coming back from the 3x3 national team, it felt awkward playing for different teams again.]

Having lived as roommates and getting to know each other inside and out,

[Lee Ju-young / Yonsei University Guard: I think Dong-keun would get in trouble for being late. It's truly amazing how his alarm goes off continuously for 10 minutes and he still doesn't wake up.]

[Lee Dong-keun / Korea University Forward: I've fixed that now. I hear my alarm well and wake up now.]

At this month's KBL rookie draft, while they named each other as top candidates for the number one pick,

[Lee Ju-young / Yonsei University Guard: I would pick Dong-keun.]

[Lee Dong-keun / Korea University Forward: I would pick Ju-young.]

They didn't hide their strong determination to be selected first themselves,

[Lee Ju-young / Yonsei University Guard: I am confident I won't make you regret it.]

[Lee Dong-keun / Korea University Forward: If you draft me, I will literally die out there on the court.]

They also threw down bold challenges to professional senior players.

[Lee Ju-young / Yonsei University Guard: I want to face Lee Jeong-hyeon of Sono as an opponent.]

[Lee Dong-keun / Korea University Forward: I want to face all of my role model seniors and try defending and stopping them.]

The two friends, who will meet as rivals in the pros, promised to unite again someday and run toward the same dream.

[Lee Ju-young / Korea University Forward: Since we won the 3x3 basketball gold medal, let's try to win a gold medal in 5x5 basketball next time.]

(Camera: Yang Doo-won | Video Editing: Park Jung-sam | Design: Yang Gi-tae)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.