Hyun Joo-yup

Hyun Joo-yup, born on 27 July 1975 in Seoul, is a South Korean former professional basketball player and head coach, regarded as one of the greatest power forwards in the history of the Korean Basketball League (KBL). He was given nicknames including Magic Hippo and Korean Charles Barkley for his size, versatility and dominance, and is known as the only player to have broken the backboard in Korean basketball history. His career coincided with the founding of the professional league, where he was the number one pick at the first KBL draft; an injury-ravaged career led to his retirement in 2009, and he was selected for the KBL Legend All-Star in 2012 and named to the KBL All-Time Legend 12 in 2017. With the senior national team he competed in two FIBA World Cups (1994, 1998), three Asian Games, four FIBA Asia Cups and the 1996 Summer Olympics, and he led South Korea to its first Asian Games gold medal in 20 years at the 2002 Asian Games despite being injured. After retiring he was a basketball commentator for MBC Sports Plus and head coach of the Changwon LG Sakers for three seasons from 2017 to 2020.