Ha Seung-Jin (born August 4, 1985) is a retired South Korean professional basketball player who has played in the NBA and the NBA D-League. He was a second round draft pick (46th overall) of the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2004 NBA draft. At 7 ft 3 in, 305 lb, he was among the largest players in the NBA. He is also the first (and as of December 2023), only South Korean to play in the NBA.
Early life and college career
Ha Seung-jin attended his father's alma mater Samil Commercial High School in Suwon with his childhood friend Yang Hee-jong, who was a year older. The duo led Samil's basketball team to its first ever national championship title. He initially planned on entering the 2003 NBA draft held in June but decided on playing college basketball first and accepted an early offer from Yonsei University.[1] It meant that he would be allowed to join the Yonsei team for the 2003 fall semester despite still being a high school senior.[2] His contemporaries at Yonsei included Yang and future Jeonju KCC Egis teammate Kim Tae-sul. After playing only seven games for Yonsei, he left for the United States to join the 2004 NBA draft.[3][4]
He played briefly with the Portland Reign of the ABA.[5] Ha joined the Portland Trail Blazers in the middle of the 2004-05 season. Ha played in only 19 games that season, averaging 5.5 minutes per game; however, on April 20 against the Los Angeles Lakers, he scored a career high 13 points to help the Trail Blazers win the game. During the 2005-06 season Ha was assigned to the NBA D-League's Fort Worth Flyers on March 28, 2006,[6] where he played for five games but did not make an impact. When fellow Blazer centers Theo Ratliff and Joel Przybilla were unable to play due to injury, Ha started four games, averaging 11 minutes playing time.
Ha returned to South Korea and joined the 2008 Korean Basketball League draft, signing with Jeonju KCC Egis. He won the 2009 and 2011 KBL Championships, winning the play-offs MVP in the latter. After the 2018–19 season ended, he became a free agent and chose to retire rather than re-sign or join another team.[11]
Ha is the younger of two children. His older sister, Ha Eun-joo [ko], is also a professional basketball player. A 6'8" center, she signed with Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA on February 6, 2006,[17] and was later waived on May 19, for failing to arrive in Los Angeles due to a conflicting contract with Chanson V-Magic of the WJBL.[18] In July 2006, she signed with Incheon Shinhan Bank S-Birds of the WKBL.
Their father Ha Dong-gi is a former basketball player-turned-coach who played for Myongji University and gave up the sport due to chronic injury problems. Ha Dong-gi had been a member of the team which won silver at the 1978 Asian Games.[4]
Ha married Kim Hwa-yeong in 2012.[19][20] They have a son (born in 2012) and a daughter (born in 2017).[21]
^Oh Ji-won (September 29, 2022). "팔씨름 예능 '오버더톱' 10월 첫 방송…전현무→하승진 출연" [Arm wrestling entertainment 'Over the Top' premieres in October... Jeon Hyun-moo → Ha Seung-jin] (in Korean). YTN. Retrieved September 29, 2022 – via Naver.
