Heo brothers take early lead as voting for KBL all-star game begins

The KBL squad for the 2022-23 all-star game poses after the game held at Suwon KT Sonicboom Arena in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Jan. 15. [NEWS1]

The KBL opened the fan vote for the 2023-24 season’s all-star game on Monday. The 24 players who receive the most votes will play in the game scheduled for Jan. 14 next year.

The fan vote will run through Dec. 18, and 50 players recommended by 10 KBL teams make up the candidate pool.

Voting happens on the KBL’s official website, and fans can cast votes for up to 12 players once a day until the polls close.

The players with the most amount of votes at the end of the last voting day will make it to the all-star game held at Goyang Gymnasium in Goyang, Gyeonggi.

As of press time Tuesday, Heo Hoon of Suwon KT Sonicboom has received the most votes, at 14,300. Lee Jung-hyun of the Goyang Sono Skygunners comes in second with 13,212, and Heo Ung — Heo Hoon’s older brother — of Busan KCC Egis is No. 3 at 12,622.

The Heo brothers’ popularity is nothing new. Heo Ung was the player with the most votes for the past two all-star games, while Heo Hoon was No. 1 for the all-star game in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

The two brothers have played for the national team together and won a bronze medal for Korea at the 2018 Asian Games.

They are both sons of KBL legend Hur Jae — his two sons choose to spell their last name differently — who played in the league from 1987 to 2004.

Hur won the championship twice as a player, in 1997 and 2003. He claimed two more championship titles as a head coach in 2009 and 2011, leading then-Jeonju KCC Egis — now called Busan KCC.

Whether the Heo brothers can make it to the all-star game squad remains to be seen, however, as there is plenty of time until the voting closes.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]