Lee Hyun-joong (23, 202 cm), who dreams of becoming the second NBA leaguer in Korea, left for the United States again on the 15th. After a long six-month rehabilitation period, he re-challenges the NBA with his body and mind stronger. His last season was a trying year for him. As a member of Davidson University, he accumulated various experiences, such as stepping on the stage of the National Collegiate Sports Association (NCAA) basketball round of 64 tournament called ‘March Madness’, and he chose to drop out instead of graduating and ambitiously challenged the NBA stage.
Although he was not at a stable level, his potential as a tall shooter was recognized and he was expected to be nominated as a necessary team. Hyunjoong Lee himself also actively promoted himself by participating in workouts for several teams. But an unexpected injury caught him off guard. During a workout with the Charlotte Hornets in June, he injured the spine and ligaments in his left foot and needed months of rehabilitation after surgery.
There is a saying that ‘a person’s true face can be seen when a crisis hits’. This also applied to Hyunjoong Lee. Even in situations where his disappointment and disillusionment could be swarming, he quickly took over his heart. Rather than being pessimistic about the reality, saying, “It’s unfair that I have suffered so far,” he focused on “how to solve the crisis in the future?” His mother, Seong Jeong-ah, the chairman of the WKBL finance committee, and even his acquaintances admired it.
After building a relationship right after the ‘4th Asia-Pacific Team Camp with Nike’ held in Hangzhou, China in June 2017, he focused on rehabilitation and reinforcement exercises with Dr. Sungwoo Kang, a performance improvement expert who has been steadily helping Hyunjoong Lee manage his body. He is known to have personally been satisfied with his time, revealing, “I seem to have learned how to use my body again. Although I increased my muscle mass, my speed actually improved.”
He went to LA to meet with the doctor who performed the surgery, receive a confirmation of his recovery, and plan to play again in the NBA. Lee Hyeon-joong said, “I have no fear of failure. It won’t always be good, but if I fall, I’ll rise like a zombie and get back up again.”
A zombie, one of the staples of horror films, is a grotesque character that walks grotesquely with a body full of scars, just like a living corpse. The word itself is not very good, such as being in charge of gloomy in a movie, but it has a different meaning in sports. It refers to a player with extraordinary grit and fighting spirit, like a zombie who tends to rise again even after being fatally wounded. From the opponent’s point of view, it is a disgusting yet fearful existence. The mention of zombies proves that Lee Hyun-joong has a strong mind.
Among domestic sports stars, Chan-seong Jeong (35, Korean Zombie MMA), who is active in the UFC featherweight division, is famous for being nicknamed ‘Zombie’. Kim Dong-hyun may be more aware in Korea, but this is largely due to the influence of entertainment programs, not as a UFC fighter. It is no exaggeration to say that Jung Chan-sung is the overwhelming number 1 among all Korean fighters in terms of his achievements in the UFC and his recognition abroad.
Not many people knew Chansung Jung until he entered the American stage. Not to mention abroad, the awareness in Korea was also low. However, through a bloody battle with Leonard Garcia at WEC, he made his presence known to fans around the world in one night. Throughout the game, they kicked and rolled like crazy and had a real mud fight. Despite the disappointing decision loss, it garnered a lot of attention among foreign fighting fans, and even UFC President Dana White publicly declared, “I am a fan of Jung Chan-sung from now on.” The nickname ‘Korean Zombie’ was coined at this time.
However, it did not mean that Jeong Chan-sung was on the rise as a lightning star after that. The real crisis came at the point where I was just about to ride the upward trend. Thanks to his impressive performance against Garcia, he was included in the main match of WEC 51 and faced George Ruff. In the early 2nd round, he launched a bold offensive and suffered his first KO loss due to the opponent’s one-two and high kick combination.
He said that at the time he couldn’t remember how he fell down, he was seriously thinking about his retirement. Chansung Jung, who returned to the cage after much thought, became a real zombie after that. Previously, if you counterattacked the opponent’s attack with grit, on the UFC stage, you paid attention to controlling the strength and weakness and analyzed the opponent’s fighting style and approached the match strategically. 파라오카지노
Jung Chan-sung, who had matured mentally through the defeat at the time, stepped forward as a prominent star on the UFC stage. Revenge of Garcia, who gave him the loss, with the first Twister submission win in UFC history, a 7-second knockout victory over Mark Hominic, who had experienced a title match in the previous match, and Dustin Four despite suffering a shoulder rotator cuff injury. Drama was written for each winning match, such as a complete victory in a divine confrontation with Irie and a victory in 58 seconds against the tricky top-ranked Henato Moicano.
Of course, as in the world of competition, there were not only pleasant victories. At the time of the first title match, he cried at the bad news of dislocating his right shoulder when he was trying to take the flow to the champion Jose Aldo in the 4th round. I allowed an attack and was defeated by a come-from-behind loss. Even at such moments, Jeong Chan-sung would come back even more diligently in the next game.
Jeong Chan-sung’s nickname was given because he tirelessly stepped on the forward step and made his opponent sick. However, after that, there was a change in his fighting style, and there are many opinions that he is more like a zombie when he stands up and does not give in even when faced with all sorts of trials. Although the events are different, Lee Hyun-joong also shows Chan-sung Jung.
Giving up an elite course in Korea, where the future was guaranteed to some extent, entering the Australian NBA Global Academy, playing on a college team belonging to the NCAA Division I, and working out fiercely beyond league games to enter the NBA. Till… , The majority of Korean basketball players are walking lonely but courageous on a road that has never been before. In addition to talent and effort, it would be impossible without constant mental strengthening.
In the process, a part that had been planned for a long time was destroyed due to fatal injuries, but many people applauded for thinking of it as a step for a better process and preparing for a new leap forward. Just as the path paved by Jeong Chan-sung has become a meaningful milestone for other Korean fighters, it is clear that Lee Hyun-joong’s current path will also become a valuable asset to juniors who dream of becoming an NBA player in the future. Let’s pay attention to how far Lee Hyun-joong, the ‘Korean Zombie’ on the basketball board who declared a re-challenge, can go.