"Legend" Lee Sang-min and Kim Joo-sung also desperately hope for "Winning"... I did it as a player. Now I'm trying as a coach. [Busan site]

*This content was translated by AI.

He has won the championship ring several times as a player, but he has yet to experience it as a coach. Legendary coaches are looking at the same place with their New Year's wishes in 2026.

Busan KCC Egis and Wonju DB Promy held a 'Basketball Spirit' game at 9:30 p.m. on the 31st of last month at Sajik Indoor Gymnasium in Busan, where they faced off in the third round of LG Electronics' professional basketball from 2025 to 2026.

The two teams were tied for third place before the game. DB and KCC both had 16 wins and 10 losses (0.615 win rate). It is 2.5 games apart from the first-place LG and one game apart from the second-place Jung Kwan-jang, which is enough to aim for the top spot. That's how important the face-off was.

KCC won all two games against each other. In the first round match, KCC won 86-84 after a fierce battle in the second half. In the second round, KCC overturned the 17-point deficit in the third quarter with Yoongi-chan's winning shot, winning 80-77 games.

The recent pace was better in DB. In the last five games, DB has won four games and lost one, and came to Busan with three consecutive wins. On the other hand, KCC, which won seven consecutive games after winning the second round match against DB, has recently been exhausted by two consecutive losses.

KCC and DB played basketball spirit once at Wonju Gymnasium in 2022. At that time, DB, where Lee Sun-bano (19 points) and Kim Jong-kyu (15 points) played, won 102-90. DB manager Kim Joo-sung was with him as a coach at the time, and KCC manager Lee Sang-min is the first to do basketball.

As we celebrate the new year at the basketball court, there must be a wish we want to achieve in 2026. Coach Kim Joo-sung made a short and thick wish, saying, "I want to win." Coach Lee Sang-min also said, "My last goal in basketball is to win the championship. I chose the position of coach, so I want to win," he said. The two head coaches made the same wish.

Head coach Kim and head coach Lee have already won the championship ring when they were players. Lee won three championship games (1998, 1999, 2004), including Hyundai, the predecessor of KCC, and Kim also topped three times (2003, 2005, 2008) until his TG days. Lee also became the champion in 2023 when he was a coach.

However, he has not yet reached the top as a coach. Coach Kim won the regular league title in the 2023-24 season, but lost to KCC with 1 win and 3 losses in the semifinal playoff, failing to advance to the championship game. Coach Lee reached the championship game in 2017 when he was in Samsung, but lost with 2 wins and 4 losses.

Director Lee Sang-min made one more wish. It was 'the health of the players'. KCC blew the first round as Huh Hoon was hurt from the opening, and since then, Song Kyo-chang, Choi Joon-yong, Lee Ho-hyun, Jang Jae-seok, and Heo Woong have been hurt in succession. Director Lee said, "I hope I don't get hurt in 2026."

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*This content was translated by AI.