Japan also praises! 'Korean basketball ace' Lee Hyun-jung shakes up Japan... Won B. League title and also received MVP

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee Hyun-jung (26), the 'ace' of the Korean national basketball team, has taken over the Japanese stage. He led his team, Nagasaki Velca, to its first-ever B. League championship since the club's founding and secured the playoff Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, completing the best season of his career.

On the 26th, Nagasaki defeated the Ryukyu Golden Kings 72-64 in the final third game of the 2025-2026 Japanese B. League Finals (best-of-three series) held at Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. With this victory, Nagasaki, founded in 2020, climbed to the top of the B. League for the first time in the club's history. Although they had lost the first game and found themselves on the brink of elimination, they won the second and third games consecutively to complete a dramatic comeback championship.

Although Nagasaki's team history is not long, its growth speed was astonishing. Starting from the third division, they were promoted to the second division in just one season, and then rose to the first division in another single season. Having begun competing in the first division from the 2023-2024 season, Nagasaki recorded 47 wins and 13 losses in the regular season this year, securing first place overall and instantly becoming the strongest team in the Japanese B. League.

At the center of it all was Korean player Lee Hyun-jung. Lee appeared in 57 regular-season games this year, averaging 17.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists, serving as Nagasaki's key scoring source. In particular, his three-point shooting percentage was 47.9%, ranking first overall in the league, and he made 187 three-pointers, the most in the league. He was the league's top shooter.

Lee Hyun-jung's performance in the playoffs was also overwhelming. In the second game of the quarterfinals against Alvark Tokyo, he recorded a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and in the semifinals against Chiba Jets, he consistently poured in points to lead the team's offense. Thanks to Lee's outstanding play, Nagasaki overcame several critical moments and reached the finals stage.

Lee Hyun-jung's shooting touch did not cool down even in the finals. Scoring 16 points each in the first and second games, he recorded 23 points and 5 rebounds, including three three-pointers, in the decisive third game where the championship was on the line. Whenever Ryukyu tried to catch up, he cut off the momentum with crucial points, taking the lead in deciding Nagasaki's championship. With this, Lee Hyun-jung became the first Korean player to experience a B. League championship in Japan.

Japanese experts also lavished praise on Lee Hyun-jung. The Japanese media Basketball King reported, "The Korean and Japanese aces led Nagasaki to their first championship. Japan's Yūdai Baba won the Finals MVP, while Lee Hyun-jung was named the Playoff MVP."

The media continued, "Lee Hyun-jung, who entered the finals as the league's best three-point shooter, scored even under intense pressure from opponents. In the third game that secured the championship, he recorded the game-high 23 points," and further praised him, saying, "Like Baba, Lee contributed to Nagasaki's first championship not only with his offense but also with his defense and rebounding."

His statistics were also overwhelming. Basketball King introduced, "Lee Hyun-jung averaged 19.4 points in the seven playoff games. He also achieved the feat of making 41 consecutive free throws in the playoffs." In this year's playoffs, Lee made 41 consecutive free throws, breaking the record of 39 consecutive free throws set by Nick Fazekas in the 2016-2017 season, nine years later.

Lee Hyun-jung also led his previous team, the Illawarra Hawks (Australia), to the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) championship last season. This season, he moved his stage to Japan and once again proved his value.

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*This content was translated by AI.