‘Veteran’ Kim Dan-bi struggles to rank first in average playing time and scoring | Dong-A Ilbo

’16 consecutive All-Stars’ women’s basketball Danbi Kim… Woori Bank, ‘main axis’ left, 9 new people join
“Team-centered, I shouldn’t show I’m tired.”
Breaking expectations of ‘4th place’ and leading the league to ‘2nd place’
Ranked 1st in All-Star voting for the 8th time in total

“Honestly, I can’t say it wasn’t difficult. However, as the center of the team, I cannot show that I am tired.”

Kim Dan-bi (34), the most senior member of women’s professional basketball Woori Bank, said this in a phone call on the 2nd. As of the 3rd, Danbi Kim is playing the longest time per game and scoring the most points among players from all six teams in the league. Danbi Kim, who has played in all of the team’s games (10 games) since the start of this season, ranks first in this category with an average playing time of 37 minutes and 42 seconds. Kim Dan-bi is 11 years older than KB Stars’ Heo Ye-eun (23, average time 37 minutes and 24 seconds), who ranked second in this category. Danbi Kim ranks first in average scoring with 23.7 points. Danbi Kim is the only player whose average score exceeds 20 points.

Since last season, when Woori Bank won the championship, a total of 10 players, including key players such as Park Hye-jin (BNK) and Choi I-sam (Shinhan Bank), have left the team due to transfers, and 9 new players, including rookies, have joined. Woori Bank manager Wi Sang-woo said, “I feel sorry (for Danbi) that two years after Danbi joined our team, she is now in a situation where she has to lead the team by herself. However, if Danbi is rested, the team’s strength will drop significantly, so it is difficult to reduce his playing time.” When Coach Wi recruited Kim Dan-bi, who was released as a free agent (FA) from Shinhan Bank in 2022, he persuaded him, saying, “Come to our team and play comfortably with good players.”

Danbi Kim said that although it is true that his shoulders have become heavier this season, he is motivated by the sense of responsibility he has to lead the team from the front. He said, “I played with top players in the league for two seasons, won the championship two years in a row, and was also selected as the Most Valuable Player (MVP), so the goal of my career as a player had disappeared. “Now, I have a new goal: I want to lead my juniors who are in the process of growth and achieve good results.” In his first season wearing the Woori Bank uniform (2022-2023 season), Kim Dan-bi led the team to a combined championship and won the professional first team regular league and championship MVP for the first time.

Woori Bank, known for its heavy training volume, is strengthening its organizational strength through intensive training this season. Veteran Kim Dan-bi is no exception and is shedding sweat on the court. When Coach Wi put effort into recruiting Kim Dan-bi, he reassured her by saying, ‘Do you really think I would train you, a veteran, like that?’ Kim Dan-bi laughed and said, “Sometimes I feel like I was deceived by the director.” However, he said, “I think I was able to become MVP after almost finishing my career as a ‘good basketball player’ because I endured difficult training (after coming to Woori Bank).”

Woori Bank’s outlook was not so bright as it ranked only 4th in the ‘Championship Candidate Survey’ conducted by the Women’s Korea Basketball League (WKBL) of all players from 6 teams ahead of the opening of this season. However, Woori Bank is in second place in the regular league (7 wins, 3 losses) based on the performance of Kim Dan-bi, who was selected as MVP in the first and second rounds in a row. Danbi Kim said, “I will lead the team by holding on as best as I can until the end of the season so as not to collapse from exhaustion.” Kim Dan-bi, the most popular star in women’s professional basketball, ranked first for the eighth time in her career, the most ever, in the All-Star fan voting results announced on the 3rd. In addition, he has been selected as an All-Star continuously since the 2009-2010 season, increasing his record of most consecutive All-Star selections to 16.

On the 4th, Woori Bank will play a third round match against BNK (8 wins, 2 losses), which is ranked first in the regular league. BNK is evaluated as having the strongest team in the league by recruiting veteran guard Park Hye-jin, who played for Woori Bank until last season. Woori Bank recorded 1 win and 1 loss in two meetings with BNK this season. Danbi Kim said, “There are many outstanding players in BNK, but I will fight confidently and not be defeated in the fight.”