*This content was translated by AI.
Whatever it is, the word "first time" is exciting. The same goes for the first time in the Women's Professional Basketball (WKBL) All-Star Game.
The BNK Financial Group 2025-2026 Women's Professional Basketball All-Star Game will be held at Sajik Indoor Gymnasium in Busan on the 4th. It is the first time that the women's basketball All-Star Game will be held in Busan since the 2019-20 season, and the first time ever held at Sajik Gymnasium.
While the top 20 players in the All-Star voting were selected and participated, this year, it was divided into Team Ponyble (Director Lee Sang-beom, Coach Wi Sung-woo Ha Sang-yoon) and Team Unile (Director Park Jung-eun, Coach Kim Wan-soo, Choi Yoon-ah). Of the total 20, some players have been selected 17 times in a row like Kim Dan-bi (Woori Bank), and Kang Yi-seul (KB Stars) has also been selected for 12 consecutive seasons.
While there are such experienced players, there are also players who have their first All-Star Game this year. This time, a total of five people are the main characters. Hana Bank's Park So-hee (7th), Shinhan Bank's Hong Yoo-soon (12th), BNK Byun So-jung (14th), KB Stars' Lee Chae-eun (15th), and Woori Bank's Lee Min-ji (16th) are the main characters.
Kim Dan-bi, the most participant among active players, said to the first All-Star players, "I wasn't a fun player because I had a talent. He was a player who constantly tried to meet his fans and tried to repay them. I hope that the players will always smile and greet their fans with a grateful heart. Then it will be possible to go beyond the 17th inning to the 20th inning," he said.
Star News has met players who are excited to be selected as the first All-Star in their lives.
Hong Yoo-soon, the main character of last year's Rookie of the Year award, showed another improvement this year, her second year. He has an average of 34 minutes and 17 seconds in 12 games with 10.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists. His team Shinhan Bank is having a difficult season, but Hong Yu-soon is keeping the center.
Hong Yoo-soon said, "It's my first time being a candidate, and I'm so happy that I didn't know I'd be selected," adding, "There are many older sisters who haven't talked about it, so I thought I wanted to get close to them." In particular, Hong Yoo-soon, who said she wanted to be close to Kim Sonia (BNK), said, "My sister said, 'You can enjoy things like this.' Upon hearing this, Kim Sonia said with a bright face, "Yoo-soon is so nice, and I think she is (MBTI) I."
Hong Yu-soon, who announced that she would show her fans how to enjoy it. "I didn't expect to be elected like this, but thank you so much for voting for me," he said, expressing his gratitude to the fans who voted for him.
Lee Chae-eun, who has been in her eighth year as a professional player this year, is also the first All-Star Game. He, who has been playing time increasing since last year, became a confident starting player this year. He has played an average of 26 minutes and 47 seconds in 13 games in the first half, with 9.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists. In addition to the long-term drive-in, the accuracy of the shot has also increased this year.
Lee Chae-eun said, "I really wanted to come, but it's not a place where I can come if I want to," adding, "I came like this because all the fans picked me." So when I heard the news (all-star), I was very grateful to the fans," he said. "I was nervous thinking, 'Maybe it won't work' because it dropped sharply, but I'm still happy to come up to 15th place," he said, after staying around 15th throughout the vote.
Lee Chae-eun is an unprecedented "sister All-Star" in the WKBL along with Lee Joo-yeon (Samsung Life Insurance), who will be two years old. Unfortunately, her sister Lee Ju-yeon was not nominated this year due to her injury. He said, "We said, 'It would have been great if my sister came out,'" adding, "If I get nominated next year, I want to go to the All-Star Game with my lead sister."
"Asan MJ" Lee Min-ji was selected as an All-Star for the first time among her classmates in her second year. Lee Min-ji smiled and nodded when asked, "Isn't it happy to be selected as the first All-Star among my friends?"
Lee Min-ji, who caused a sensation last year, has been showing signs of hemming for a while this year and has also been reprimanded by head coach Wi Sung-woo. However, he had his best day with 29 points in the match against KB Stars on the 27th of last month, hitting nine 3-point shots. He played an average of 19 minutes and 59 seconds in 13 games in the first half, improving to 9.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.5 assists.
Lee Min-ji said, "It was amazing to be nominated this year after joining the professional program last year, and thankfully, the fans voted a lot, so I'm honored to be selected as an All-Star." Regarding what he can show in the All-Star Game, he laughed, saying, "I didn't think about anything else, but I think I should talk to my sisters well."
Park So-hee and Byun So-jung, who are in their fifth year as professionals, have been friends for 10 years, the same class as Kyeongol Middle School and Bundang Management High School. In the 2021-22 rookie draft, Park So-hee was selected as the second and Byun So-jung as the third. Park So-hee, the Rookie of the Year award in the 2022-23 season, has been reborn as an indispensable being at Hana Bank this year, and Byun So-jung, who experienced last year's championship, is also performing like an altoran. He is already following his third All-Star selection, Dong-hee Lee Hae-ran (Samsung Life Insurance).
Park So-hee said, "I'm also my first All-Star and (Byeon) So-jung is my first All-Star, and I'm so happy to play the game with my close friends (Lee) Hae-ran," adding, "I'm looking forward to showing good chemistry at the stadium because I'm close to all three of them." Byun So-jung said, "It's nice to be able to come with my friends. I'm a bit shy, so I can't speak well, but I'm excited because I think I can adapt quickly with these comfortable friends."
After the All-Star was confirmed, Park So-hee was more excited than Byun So-jung herself. Park So-hee said, "It's my first All-Star, so I thought it would be comfortable to have a friend on the same team," adding, "I can't text So-jung to Hae-ran." I said, 'You have to do it with me,'" he laughed.
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*This content was translated by AI.
