Journeyman Lee Gwan Hee says PBA stint helped his career

Seoul Samsung Thunders vs Shandong Xiwang during The Asia League’s ‘The Terrific 12’ at Studio City Event Center on 19 September 2018, in Macau, Macau. Photo by Chung Yan Man / Power Sport Images for Asia League

MACAU—Lee Gwan Hee has been a journeyman when it comes to his basketball career.

It’s not that he bounced around teams while playing for limited minutes, but he did play not just in his native Korean Basketball League but also in the PBA and the B.League.

Lee, though, is back with his old team in Seoul and he was instrumental in the Samsung Thunders’ 85-73 dismantling of Shandong in the Asia League The Terrific 12.

Seoul, with great help from Lee, advanced to the semifinals of the pocket tournament held here in Macau and will face Guangzhou in the penultimate round.

Lee, though, credited his stint in the Philippines as a major help in his development as a basketball player.

“Because of the time I played in the Philippines, I have confidence in playing abroad so that’s why I can do good in Japan and Macau,” said Lee with the help of a translator Wednesday at Studio City Events Center.

Lee was part of Phoenix’s inaugural team that competed in the PBA 2015-2016 season with the Korean wingman playing in the league’s Governors’ Cup.

This was the season that the league experimented with having an Asian import and Lee, despite playing just an average of 17.3 minutes per game during the eliminations, had his best game in the playoffs.

Lee averaged 7.6 points in the eliminations but exploded for 24 points, on 9-of-10 shooting, with six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block but it came in a 136-125 loss to TNT.

The 6-foot-2 Korean even joked that he should be playing overseas instead of Korea.

“Maybe Korea isn’t the place where I need to play,” joked Lee as he poked fun at his Seoul head coach Lee Sangmin. “Definitely the time I played in the Philippines helped be become a better player.”