Boris Savovic of the Goyang Orion (R) tries to drive past Jameel Warney of the SK Knights during a Korean Basketball League regular season game at Goyang Gymnasium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on Feb. 12, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Two foreign-born basketball players said Thursday they’ll leave the South Korean league over fears of the fast-spreading novel coronavirus in the country, joining an American player who made the decision the previous day.
The Goyang Orion of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) said Thursday that their center Boris Savovic told them he’d like to leave South Korea to be with his pregnant wife.
Later in the day, KT Sonicboom’s Byron Mullens told the team that he wanted to return to his native United States. The team said Mullens took part in the morning practice but made his announcement hours before the tipoff in Seoul.
On Wednesday, another Sonicboom player, Allen Durham, informed his team that he no longer wanted to be in the country. These mid-season departures could turn out to be an exodus of foreign athletes from South Korea.
To help curb the spread of the virus, the KBL said earlier this week that all remaining regular season games would be played behind closed doors.
Savovic and the Orion played their first crowdless game on Wednesday. After scoring 22 points in a 68-64 victory over Mobis Phoebus, Savovic acknowledged he was afraid of the virus.
Savovic, the first European to play in the KBL, joined the Orion in November, 11 games into the 54-game season. He is eighth in the league with 15.3 points per game and 12th overall with 5.9 rebounds per game.
After Durham made his decision on Wednesday, Mullens reportedly wanted to join him right away.
The team had convinced him to stay, but Mullens, who was averaging 13.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, made up his mind about 24 hours after Durham’s move.
KBL teams can each carry up to two foreign players. They account for huge chunks of teams’ offense and rebounding — eight of the top-10 scorers and top-10 rebounders are foreign-born players — and their midseason departures could have major implications in playoff battles.
The regular season is scheduled to finish on March 31.
(Yonhap)
