KCC coach Lee's unusual 'open communication' style the secret to team's KBL title run last season

Fresh off leading the Busan KCC Egis to the KBL championship, head coach Lee Sang-min looked visibly relieved during an interview at the team’s training facility in Yongin, Gyeonggi, on Monday.

KCC, dubbed a “super team” because it collected star players with strong personalities, became one of the postseason’s biggest talking points for its unusually animated discussions during timeouts that often more resembled debates among equals than one-way instructions from the bench.

“If we hadn’t won the [KBL] title, people probably would have criticized me as a coach who got pushed around by players and lacked control. If you tell this generation of players to 'just shut up and run,' it would probably backfire,” said Lee. “It's better to be open when players sense something on the court that I couldn’t see.”

One of the most memorable moments came during the championship series against the Goyang Sono Skygunners, when guard Heo Hoon shouted, “They only run Spain pick-and-rolls,” referring to the double-screen offensive tactic popularized by Spain’s national basketball team.

Another defining moment came with two seconds remaining in Game 3, when KCC trailed by one point. 

“You know that play we practiced,” Heo suggested. “You mean the backdoor play?” Lee responded, immediately embracing the idea. 

Moments later, with the opposing defense leaning toward the perimeter, Heo threaded a perfect pass under the basket, leading to KCC’s dramatic comeback victory.

Allowing players to influence tactical decisions during a championship series is highly unusual and often considered risky. Some around the team worried that “too many captains would steer the ship off course,” a Korean idiom similar to the English phrase, “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Instead, however, the ship was perfectly on course.

“If the coach prepared 100 percent of the game plan, we [the players] only adjusted maybe 20 percent within that structure,” Heo explained. “We trusted that he would respect our opinions.”

During games, Heo could often be heard shouting seemingly random words such as “Rammus!” and “Malphite!” — characters from the online game League of Legends.

“The players suggested we stop calling plays ‘one,’ ‘two’ or ‘three’ and instead use names of League of Legends characters they enjoy,” Lee said. “I happily accepted it.”

The approach is one example of the coach actively trying to communicate with his players on an even level.

The open exchange between coach and players was not entirely new for Lee.

An old video of Lee as a player in Seoul Samsung Thunders during the 2008 to 2009 season resurfaced. In the video, then-coach Ahn Jun-ho asked Lee during a timeout, “Can you do it or not?” and player Lee casually replied, “No.”

“Maybe this is karma,” Lee, during the interview, joked with a laugh.

“Back then, coach [Lee Sang-min] was the only one speaking up,” Heo said jokingly. “Now there’s my brother Heo Ung and Choi [Jun-yong] adding comments too, so it must have been even more chaotic.”

“It felt like I needed to carry around like five lollipops because I had two kids on the team,” Lee said while reflecting on the season.

However, it was this leadership style that brought the most success — patiently managing strong personalities such as Heo Ung and Shawn Long while bringing out their best performances.

“The paradigm for guards has completely changed from my playing days and has become far more offense-oriented now,” Lee said. “But Hoon set aside personal ambition and focused on defense and passing, which created great synergy for the team.”

Lee previously went through many years as head coach of the Seoul Samsung Thunders from 2014 to 2022 without winning a championship. Television personality and former basketball player Seo Jang-hoon, his junior from the Yonsei University basketball team, worried that “another failure at KCC could damage [Lee's] coaching career.”

“Jang-hoon watched every game and constantly gave me feedback,” Lee said. “I’m really grateful, but every phone call with him lasts an hour and a half,” he added with a conflicted smile.

Will KCC’s loud and chaotic timeout discussions continue next season?

“I’m still not sure,” Heo Hoon replied with a playful grin.

“Even if [Heo] Hoon stays quiet, do you think the other players will?” Lee responded. “We’ll continue communicating openly as we do now and try to win both the league title and the East Asia Super League.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY PARK LIN [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]