The 2023-2024 professional basketball championship game, which drew keen attention due to the “brother match” between Heo Woong (KCC) and Heo Hoon (kt), ended with Heo Woong being selected as the MVP and Heo Hoon also performing MVP-level in the runner-up team.
Busan KCC beat Suwon kt 88-70 in Game 5 of the 2023-2024 professional basketball championship match (four wins out of seven) held at kt Arena in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do on the 5th.
After finishing the series with four wins and one loss, KCC returned to the top of the professional basketball league in 13 years after the 2010-2011 season. He was named the MVP of the playoffs with 18.8 points and 5.4 assists in the championship game. He was named the MVP after 26 years since his father, former national basketball coach Heo Jae, was named the MVP of the 1997-1998 season. He also scored 21 points, the most in his team, in Game 5, leading KCC to a landslide victory by 18 points.
Although his younger brother Heo Hoon finished the season as the runner-up, his performance was definitely outstanding. He also scored the most points in both teams with 29 points in the match. Heo Hoon played full time for 40 minutes throughout the second and fifth rounds of the championship game. The performance was impressive as Heo Woong received 31 votes, Ra Gun-ah 27 votes, and Heo Hoon received a whopping 21 votes in the 스포츠토토 MVP vote of the press corps.
In the 1997/98 season when he was a member of the Busan Kia Tigers, he finished the game in second place with three wins and four losses after a neck-and-neck race that lasted until the seventh game. However, the playoff MVP was Heo Jae, a former coach of the second place team. It was the only time in the history of professional basketball that a playoff MVP was awarded from a runner-up team in 1997. Back then, Heo played in the court in half-bubs due to right hand back injury, and scored 29 points in the first round and 30 points in the second round. Moreover, the picture of Heo Jae bleeding from a tear over his right eye during the game is still a memorable scene among old fans.
Heo Hoon’s performance in the championship game this season was so brilliant that it reminded him of his father’s performance 26 years ago, but the team lost, causing fans to feel sorry for him. Heo Woong became the first MVP in professional basketball history after his father, and Heo Hoon also performed more than MVP, making the championship game a stage where the famous feast of the Brothers’ Match led to rich attractions.