Majul & ‘Brother Heo’: Unraveling the Mystery

Is the era of the ‘Heo Brothers’ coming to an end in Korean basketball? ‘Basketball President’ Heo Jae (61)’s two sons, Heo Woong (33) and Heo Hoon (31, KCC), were not included in the national basketball team.

Nicolais Majuls (46, Latvia, photo), the new national basketball team coach, announced on the 4th the list of 12 national team players who will play in two consecutive away games, including against Taiwan on the 26th and against Japan on the 1st of next month, and excluded the Heo brothers. This national team is the first choice and elite member of Coach Majuls, who took office last month. The Heo brothers have not been selected for the national team since 2024, when former head coach Ahn Jun-ho was in charge.

Shooter Heo Woong is the second highest scorer among Korean players in professional basketball this season (average 16.6 points). Guard Heo Hoon ranks second in assists (6.6 assists). In particular, Heo Woong showed off his superb shooting sense by scoring a whopping 51 points in an away game against SK in Seoul on the 3rd, a day before the national team roster was announced. This is a record that ranks third in scoring in a single game in KBL history.

Regarding the reason why he did not select Heo Woong even after watching the game on site, Coach Majuls explained, “We took physical conditions into consideration and selected players with better athletic ability.” In response to the question, “Did factors outside of his skills, such as (Heo Woong’s) personal life issues, play a role?”, he answered, “I comprehensively judged what he showed on and off the court.” Since 2024, Heo Woong has been unable to escape controversy over his private life, exchanging accusations and countersuits with his ex-girlfriend on charges of blackmail and blackmail.

Former basketball team coach Heo Jae, father of the Heo brothers, is also out of the question. Former coach Heo, who took command of the national team during the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, selected his two sons to the national team, ushering in the heyday of the Heo family. However, after former coach Heo took over as owner of the new KBL team Carrot in the 2022-23 season, it went downhill rapidly. Carrot was expelled from the KBL after various controversies, including non-payment of the league membership fee, non-payment of the team acquisition fee, and non-payment of player salaries. KBL severely punished former coach Heo by prohibiting him from holding any position related to professional basketball in the future.

Pi Joo-young ([email protected])