Wonju DB Promy
Wonju DB Promy 원주 DB 프로미 | |||
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Gangwon Province, South Korea | |||
Team colours | Green, White | ||
Head coach | Lee Sang-beom | ||
Team captain | Kang Sang-jae | ||
Affiliation(s) | DB Insurance | ||
Championships | 3 Korean Leagues | ||
Retired numbers | 9 Hur Jae 32 Kim Joo-sung | ||
Website | promy.kbl.or.kr | ||
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The Wonju DB Promy is a professional basketball club in the Korean Basketball League (KBL), located in the city of Wonju. From its founding in 1996, the team has always been based in its home province of Gangwon. It has the rare distinction of being the only team in the KBL to have never changed its hometown despite changing names and corporate sponsors several times.[1][2] Due to this long-standing relationship with the city of Wonju, the team enjoys a particularly strong local fanbase and is Gangwon Province's oldest sports team.[2][3]
History
Pre-KBL era
Wonju DB Promy traces its origins to the basketball team founded by
Naray Telecom bought over Korea Development Bank's basketball team. The KDB had opted out of registering its basketball team as a professional sports team.[5] Although Naray took in some of its players, it did not inherit the legacy of the former team. The KDB team had been started during the 1950s, not long after the Korean War ended.[6] The Industrial Bank of Korea likewise had sold its basketball team that year, and its new corporate sponsor restarted the team as Gwangju Nasan Flamans. No KBL team has been sponsored by a domestic financial institution or bank ever since.
Early years in the KBL (1997–1999)
Naray Telecom registered its team in the professional league as Naray Blue Bird and adopted yellow and blue as its jersey colors.[1] It was one of the few teams not based in a major metropolitan area, as Wonju's population count still remains under half a million even in more recent years. Nonetheless, Naray Telecom was keen to establish ties with the community and Naray Blue Bird was one of the earliest KBL teams to set up community projects, such as basketball camps for interested school children and coached by their own players.[7] They were runners-up in the inaugural KBL Championship despite being a relatively new team. Naray Blue Bird made news by trading Jeong In-kyo for Busan Kia Enterprise star Hur Jae in 1998.
Xers era (1999–2005)
In 1999, Naray Telecom's parent company Sambo Computer took over the naming rights and the team became Wonju Sambo Xers.[1] For a period of time, the Xers were mostly a mid to lower-ranked team and failed to qualify for the play-offs for two consecutive seasons. The team's name also changed several more times while it was under the sponsorship of Sambo Computer or its subsidiaries.
With the drafting of center-forward
For a period of time, the TG Xers were dubbed the "Yongsan–Chung-Ang Alumni Team" due to a large number of its players being alumni of Yongsan High School and Chung-Ang University. The head coach at that time Chun Chang-jin and several of the team's management staff were also from either Yongsan High School or Chung-Ang University. The term "Yongsan mafia" originated from this era and has been used by the media to refer to hak-yeon (Hangul: 학연, the Korean-language equivalent term of "old boy network") in domestic basketball, even if the aforementioned mentioned names were never contemporaries or actually knew one another from their school days.[10][11]
The following season, the TG Xers finally topped the league table and finished runners-up in the play-offs, losing to
Dongbu/DB era (2005–present)
Dongbu Insurance's acquisition of the team was only confirmed just before the 2005–06 season started, and the team name was changed to Wonju Dongbu Promy to reflect this. As Dongbu's founder was from Gangwon Province, it opted not to move the basketball team.[14] The color green was adopted as its new team color and has been associated with the team ever since. Under the new sponsors, the team has seen more stability and did not change its name or rebrand as many times as during the Xers era, which had been a thorny issue among even its most loyal fans.[17] Prior to the 2017–18 season, in line with Dongbu Group's corporate rebranding, the team name was renamed Wonju DB Promy accordingly.[18][19] Other than the minor name change and a new team logo, it has not gone through any major rebranding.[20]
During the
At the end of the 2012–13 season, Dongbu played at its home ground Chiak Gymnasium (Korean: 치악체육관) for the last time. Up until then, it had the distinction of being the only KBL team to have never changed home ground from the inaugural season of the league.
Preparations for the upcoming 2013–14 season in their newly-completed home ground were disrupted when it emerged that head coach Kang Dong-hee was under investigation for match-fixing.[27] The investigation into Kang was linked to a wider crackdown and investigation into illegal sports betting which involved a number of personalities from the entertainment industry, including Kim Yong-man and Lee Soo-geun.[28] After Kang's resignation prior to his conviction, Dongbu went through a period of instability as Lee Choong-hee took over but then resigned in the middle of the 2013–14 season.
Current roster
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.
Wonju DB Promy roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated: 6 October 2022 |
Enlisted players
Player name | Military branch | Enlisted | Expected discharge |
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Lee Youn-su[citation needed] | Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps | May 2021 | November 2022 |
Seo Hyun-seok[29] | Republic of Korea Army | 2021 | N/A |
Kim Hoon[30] | Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps | May 2022 | November 2023 |
Lee Yong-woo[30] | |||
Yoo Hyeon-jun[30] |
Honours
- Korean Basketball League championship
- Korean Basketball League regular season
- KBL Cup
- Runners-up: 2021
References
- ^ a b c d "달라진 구단명, 달라지지 않은 연고지". Basket Korea (in Korean). 27 March 2020.
- ^ a b "그들이 돌아왔다, 코트 안팎을 누비는 '원주 DB프로미' 스타들" (in Korean). DB Group. 7 October 2020.
- ^ a b "나래 블루버드에서 TG삼보까지 원주 연고 프로농구 10년". Wonju Today (in Korean). 10 October 2005.
- ^ "프로농구 연고지 확정-서울은 공동.부산은 기아자동차". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 27 November 1996.
- ^ "[탐방! 프로농구 TG삼보] '나래 블루버드'로 출발…". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 3 March 2005.
- Korea Economic Daily(in Korean). 3 September 1996.
- Korea Economic Daily(in Korean). 5 August 1998.
- ^ "신기성 패스·김주성 돌파 '스피드 TG' 못말려". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 13 November 2003.
- ^ "TG 허재·동양 김승현, 가드 싸움". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 1 April 2003.
- ^ "[프로농구] '원주 TG'의 우승비결". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 4 March 2003.
- ^ "TG삼보 모회사 법정관리…'용산 마피아'의 일장춘몽". The Chosun Ilbo. 19 May 2005.
- ^ "Chinese computer colossus may acquire Korea's Trigem". Korea JoongAng Daily. 30 August 2006.
- ^ a b "프로농구 TG삼보, 동부화재에 매각 확정". The Hankyoreh (in Korean). 7 October 2005.
- ^ a b "동부그룹, TG삼보 인수 최종결정". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 5 October 2005.
- ^ "[프로농구] 동부그룹, 곧 TG삼보 인수". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 20 September 2005.
- ^ "동부화재, TG삼보 인수 확정". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 8 October 2005.
- ^ "[프로농구]나래, 삼보로 팀명 변경". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 25 February 2002.
- ^ "동부그룹, 46년만에 사명변경...동부화재, DB손보로 새출발". Chosun Biz (in Korean). 22 August 2017.
- ^ "동부, 'DB그룹'으로 새출발…"큰 꿈(Dream Big)으로 미래준비"". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). 1 November 2017.
- ^ "원주 동부, '원주 DB프로미 프로농구단'으로 구단 명칭 변경". JTBC (in Korean). 29 September 2017.
- ^ "'동부산성'의 위력 앞에 모비스 무릎 꿇다". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 5 January 2012.
- ^ "19-20 DB, '동부산성' 이후 8년 만에 최고 수비 수치". Rookie (in Korean). 27 March 2020.
- ^ "'동부 산성' 전설 남기고 … 김주성, 농구 코트 떠난다". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 19 December 2017.
- ^ "높이에 스피드 더한 업그레이드 '동부산성'". Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). 18 September 2015.
- ^ "프로농구 '동부산성'만 있나…이승현-이종현-위디 '오리온 산성'". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). 17 November 2020.
- ^ a b "<농구소식> 동부, 15일 치악체육관 고별 행사". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). 4 March 2013.
- ^ "추락한 코트의 마법사…'승부조작' 강동희, 징역 10월" (in Korean). JTBC. 8 August 2013.
- ^ "강동희 이어 김용만까지…'불법' 스포츠토토가 발목 잡네" (in Korean). JTBC. 22 March 2013.
- ^ 바스켓코리아 (6 June 2021). "풍부한 선수단 갖춘 원주 DB, 치열한 경쟁 시작된다". basketkorea.com (in Korean). Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ a b c 바스켓코리아 (26 April 2022). "5월 16일 상무 입대 허훈, 상무 제 2전성기 이끈다". basketkorea.com (in Korean). Retrieved 6 October 2022.
External links
- Official website (in Korean)