Hoop Star Has New Number, Motivation

There is a story behind a back number.

Pro basketball player Dante Jones, 31, of KT&G discarded his two-year old number 32 and changed to 11 before this year’s season starts on October 19. The new number was available as its previous owner Hong Sa-bung retired to become a coach.

It is not because he is Hong’s friend that Jones chose the number.

The foremost reason is that his daughter is eleven years old this year. Father of two daughters, Jones is determined to play better, thinking of his oldest daughter who is in the U.S.

This year is Jones’ 11th year in the professional basketball league. After his team failed to make it to the play-off of last season, Jones wants to lead his team to the top with his experience and skills acquired through his eleven-year pro life.

In a pre-game with SK, the first game he played with the new number on his back, on October 10, he made 28 points, the highest within the team, and 10 rebounds.

The number 11 has been put on by pitchers like Choi Dong-won in the baseball league and by strikers strong at wing play such as Cha Beom-geun, Seo Jeong-won, and Seol Ki-hyeon in the football league. In case of basketball, the number usually belongs to star players, including Lee Sang-min (KCC), Seo Jang-hoon (Samsung), Cho Sang-hyeon (LG), Bang Seong-yoon (SK), Kim Dong-woo (Mobis), and Kim Yeong-man (Dongbu). There are high expectations for Jones’ play this season as the only foreign player to put on the number.

kjs0123@donga.com