The KBL All-Star Game is an annual basketball event in South Korea, organised by the Korean Basketball League. It was established in 1998 as the All-Star Game of the KBL. The KBL All-Star Game is held in mid-January every year. It was staged in Seoul in all but one of its first nineteen editions, and at venues around the country from 2017, before returning to Seoul in 2026.
History The All-Star Game was launched in January 1998. For the following eight editions all the games had been held at the Jamsil Arena in Seoul. The 2021 edition was scheduled for January 17, but it was cancelled due to COVID-19 despite the fact that the teams had been selected. The 2024 game went into overtime, the first All-Star game to do so in 22 years.
The 2026 edition, held at the Jamsil Arena, was the last All-Star game at the venue, which is due for demolition as part of the redevelopment of the Jamsil Sports Complex.
Voting From the league's founding in 1997 until 2001, the All-Star starting fives were chosen by a vote of the KBL press corps. Fan voting was introduced in the 2001–02 season, with fans selecting each team's starting five, and the KBL's technical committee choosing the remaining seven places on each team. Since 2017–18, all 24 All-Stars have been selected by fan vote, with the top two becoming captains who draft their teams. Five players from each of the ten teams are nominated for the fan vote, and the two leading vote-getters each recruit eleven players, regardless of their original teams.
Heo Ung topped the fan vote in three consecutive seasons, from 2021−22 to 2023−24, his fifth time as leading vote-getter; he had also led the vote in 2015−16.
Editions
1998-2016 YearVenueCityMVPTeam 1998 Jamsil Arena Seoul Kang Dong-hee Busan Kia Enterprise 1999 Jamsil Arena Seoul Warren Rosegreen Incheon Shinsegi Bigs 2000 Jamsil Arena Seoul Warren Rosegreen (2) Gwangju Nasan Flamans 2001 Jamsil Arena Seoul Artimus McClary Seoul Samsung Thunders 2002 Jamsil Arena Seoul Andre Perry Wonju Sambo Xers 2003 Jamsil Arena Seoul Marcus Hicks Daegu Tongyang Orions 2004 Jamsil Arena Seoul Moon Kyung-eun Incheon Electroland Black Slamer 2005 Jamsil Arena Seoul Charles Minlund Jeonju KCC Egis 2006 Jamsil Arena Seoul Seo Jang-hoon Seoul Samsung Thunders 2007 Dongchun Gymnasium Ulsan Cho Sang-hyun Changwon LG Sakers 2008 Jamsil Students' Gymnasium Seoul Kim Joo-sung Wonju East Promy 2009 Jamsil Students' Gymnasium Seoul Lee Dong-jun Daegu Orions 2010 Jamsil Arena Seoul Eric Sandrin Seoul Samsung Thunders 2011 Jamsil Arena Seoul Kim Hyo-beom Seoul SK Knights 2012 Moon wins MVP in KBL All-Star game (2012) - koreaherald.com Jamsil Arena Seoul Mun Tae-yeong Changwon LG Sakers 2013 Jamsil Arena Seoul Juan Patillo Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters 2014 Jamsil Arena Seoul Kim Sun-hyung Seoul SK Knights 2015 KBL stars to shine in All-Star Game (08/01/2015) - koreatimes.co.kr Jamsil Arena Seoul Kim Sun-hyung Mun Tae-yeong Seoul SK Knights Ulsan Mobis Phoebus 2016 Jamsil Arena Seoul Kim Sun-hyung (3) Seoul SK Knights
2017-present Bold: Team that won the game.
YearDateVenueCityAttendanceTeam 1ScoreTeam 2MVPClub 2017 Korean Basketball League All-Star Game to be Held in Busan (2016) - hapskorea.com January 22 Sajik Arena Busan Junior All Star 126–150 Senior All Star Oh Se-keun Anyang KGC 2018 January 14 Changwon Gymnasium Changwon 5,422 Team Oh Se-keun 104–117 Team Lee Jung-hyun Deonte Burton Wonju DB Promy 2019 January 20 Changwon Gymnasium Changwon 5,152 Yang Hong-seok Magic Team 103–129 Ra Gun-a Dream Team Marcus Landry Suwon KT Sonicboom 2020 January 19 Samsan World Gymnasium Incheon 9,704 Team Heo Hoon 123–110 Team KBLmong Kim Jong-kyu Wonju DB Promy 2021 Cancelled due to COVID-19 2022 January 16 Daegu Athletics Promotion Center Daegu 3,300 Team Heo Ung 120–117 Team KBLmong Heo Ung Wonju DB Promy 2023 January 15 Suwon KT Sonicboom Arena Suwon 3,325 Team Heo Ung 117–122 Team Lee Dae-sung Ha Yoon-gi Suwon KT Sonicboom 2024 January 14 Goyang Gymnasium Goyang 5,581 Team Gong-Aji 135–128 (OT) Team KBLmong Jameel Warney Seoul SK Knights 2025 KBL announced the team formation results for the 2024-25 KCC Professional Basketball All-Star Game -mk.co.kr January 19 Sajik Arena Busan 9,053 Team Gong-Aji 126–142 Team KBLmong Jameel Warney (2) Seoul SK Knights2026 January 18Jamsil ArenaSeoul8,649Team Brown131–109Team Cony Nathan KnightGoyang Sono Skygunners
Players with most MVP awards
Player WinsEditions Kim Sun-hyung 32014, 2015, 2016 Jameel Warney 22024, 2025 Mun Tae-yeong 22012, 2015 Warren Rosegreen 21999, 2000
All-Star Game events
Three-Point Shoot Contest Year Player Team2017 Jeon Jun-beom Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus2018 Jeon Jun-beom Ulsan Hyundai Mobis Phoebus2019 Cho Sung-min Changwon LG Sakers2020 Choi Jun-yong Seoul SK Knights2022 Lee Kwan-hee Changwon LG Sakers2023 Heo Ung Jeonju KCC Egis2024 Justin Gutang Seoul Samsung Thunders2025 Choi Seong-mo Seoul Samsung Thunders
Slam-Dunk champions Year Player Team2017 Michael Craig Kim Hyun-min Seoul Samsung Thunders Busan KT SonicBoom2018 Deonte Burton Kim Min-soo Wonju DB Promy Seoul SK Knights2019 Kim Jong-kyu Changwon LG Sakers2020 Troy Gillenwater - Troy Gillenwater - proballers.com Kim Hyun-min Incheon Electroland Elephants Busan KT SonicBoom2022 Ha Yoon-gi Suwon KT Sonicboom2023 Rhenz Abando Anyang KGC Ginseng Corporation2024 Justin Gutang Seoul Samsung Thunders2025 Cho Jun-hee Seoul Samsung Thunders
All-Stars with most votes
Edition Most votes Runner-up2017-18 Oh Se-keun Lee Jung-hyun 2018-19 Yang Hong-seok Ricardo Ratliffe2019-20 Heo Hoon Kim Si-rae2021-22 Heo Ung Heo Hoon 2022-23 Heo Ung Lee Dae-sung 2023-24 Heo Ung Heo Hoon 2024-25 Yu Ki-sang Byeon Jun-hyeong Under the format used since 2017–18.
Notable participants
Eric Sandrin Oh Se-keun Heo Ung Deonte Burton Rhenz Abando Olumide Oyedeji Marcus Foster Kris Lang Anthony Richardson Marcus Landry
See also Korean Basketball League
References
External links Korea Basket at Asia-basket.com