Seo Jang-hoon "Afraid My Playing Career Would End in Divorce... Forced Myself to Play During the Last Year"

SBS 'Handsome Tigers' Seo Jang-hoon / Photo by SBS

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] Former basketball player Seo Jang-hoon opened up about retirement and divorce, topics he had not discussed before.

On the 7th, the SBS entertainment program 'Real Basketball, Handsome Tigers' (Handsome Tigers) aired a scene where the members were having dinner together.

During the broadcast, Shori asked Seo Jang-hoon, "I have a question about your retirement. Do you think you could have played a few more years back then?"

Seo Jang-hoon replied, "No, I couldn't. That day was the last for my knee. On the last day, my knee hurt so much I almost couldn't play."

When Julien Kang asked, "Did you regret retiring?" Seo Jang-hoon said, "Yes. I think about it until I die, but I didn't want to show that I couldn't play properly. Some say it's okay to play briefly, but I didn't want that either." He continued, "It felt like letting go of a rubber band that had kept my body tight all my life," and added, "Actually, I wanted to retire earlier, but due to family circumstances, I couldn't quit," drawing attention from those around him.

He went on, "There was a divorce issue, and I thought my career might end being remembered for the divorce rather than retirement," and confessed, "My body was already broken, but I forced myself to play the last year out of pride."

In particular, Seo Jang-hoon said, "I played the last year without getting paid," and added, "I thought I would get a lot, so I said I would donate, but I got less than expected, so I added my own money to donate."

Seo Jang-hoon retired from professional basketball in 2013 and donated 200 million won to underprivileged students attending Yonsei University, combining his last salary of 100 million won with an additional 100 million won from his own funds.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.