Veteran coach returns to national team helm

The Korea Basketball Association (KBA) said on Monday that former Seoul Samsung Thunders head coach Kim Dong-kwang has been appointed to lead the national team.

Kim, 62, coached the Korean squad in 2001, the Bahrain national team, and SBS and Anyang KT&G in the Korean Basketball League.

Most recently, he was at the helm of the Thunders from April 2012 to January 2014.

Kim will lead the team in the 2015 FIBA Asian Championship from Sept. 23 to Oct. 3 in Changsha, China.

The winner of the tournament earns a ticket to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, while the second and third place teams get spots in the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Korea has not played in the Olympics since the 1996 Summer Games. The team is in Group C of the Asian Championship along with China, Jordan and Singapore.

The team will gather at Jincheon National Training Center on July 20 and compete in the William Jones Cup in Taiwan that runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 6.

BY JOO KYUNG-DON [joo.kyungdon@joongang.co.kr]