Heo Ung (born August 5, 1993) is a South Korean professional basketball player. He plays for  Jeonju KCC Egis in the Korean Basketball League and the South Korean national team.

Early life
Heo only began focusing on basketball in middle school, relatively late compared to many of his KBL peers, as his father, retired basketball player and coach Hur Jae, had been staunchly opposed to him and his younger brother becoming professional athletes. He spent a year and a half of his elementary school years in the United States when his father was sent for coaching training and worked as a coach at Pepperdine University. During this period, he and his brother were among the few Asians at their school and played basketball to escape being targets of racism and bullying. The family returned to South Korea when their father became the new Jeonju KCC Egis head coach and the brothers attended Yongsan Middle School and Yongsan High School, both of which are known for their basketball teams.

College career
Heo turned down his father's alma mater Chung-Ang University to play for Yonsei University. His younger brother would join him at Yonsei two years later.

During his freshman year, Heo impressed at the Professional-Amateur Series, in which college basketball teams played a series of friendly games against KBL professional and reserve teams. He won the College Basketball Rookie of the Year award. His last year at Yonsei ended on a sour note when Yonsei lost to rival Korea University in the annual "friendship games" as well as all three major collegiate titles: being knocked out by Korea University in the MBC Cup quarter-finals, finishing runner-up to them in the U-League regular season standings and losing to them in the championship finals. However, he impressed in the MBC Cup quarter-final loss to Korea University by scoring 27 points, including eight 3-pointers, and caught the attention of KBL scouts. He dropped out during his junior year after deciding to turn professional.

Professional career

DB Promy (2014–2022)

2014–2019
Heo declared for the 2014 KBL rookie draft and it was widely predicted that he would be picked by Jeonju KCC Egis, which was then coached by his father Hur Jae. Jeonju KCC Egis had been assigned the fourth pick but Hur Jae chose Kim Ji-hoo from Korea University instead to prevent his son's career from being overshadowed. Heo was instead picked by Wonju DB Promy at fifth. He made his debut in October against Goyang Orions, contributing 5 points, 3 assists and 2 interceptions. Initially the back-up to the backcourt pair of Park Byung-woo and Doo Kyung-min, Heo was gradually given more playing time due to Park's injury problems and poor form. With Park enlisting at the end of the season, Heo was expected to step in as the main shooting guard for the upcoming 2015–16 season. Despite being only in his second season as a professional, he topped the All-Star fan vote. By the end of the season, he had established himself in the team and won the Most Improved Player Award, having averaged 12.03 points and playing in all 54 league games.

In May 2017, Heo enlisted for mandatory military service and was assigned to the Sangmu team after completing basic training. He was discharged in January 2019 and immediately returned to DB Promy's roster for the last few rounds of the 2018-19 season. By then his younger brother turned professional and DB Promy's match-up with his brother's team Busan KT Sonicboom in February drew much attention as it was the first time they had played against one another in the KBL.

2019–2022
Heo was plagued by persistent back and ankle problems during the 2019-20 season but averaged a career-high of 13.7 points in 14 games and ranked second for 3-point shots among domestic-born players. With the signing of free agent Kim Jong-kyu, he formed an offensive triumvirate together with Kim and Doo as DB finished the season at the top of the league table; due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the playoffs were canceled and the season's results were forfeited. He underwent surgery on his ankle at the end of the season, which had been cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After spending the off-season in rehabilitation, he returned in time for the 2020-21 season.

Several games into the 2020-21 season, Heo suffered a knee injury. Due to injury problems ravaging the team throughout the season, the players had little time to gel and Heo occasionally had to play despite not being in peak physical condition. DB finished the season at 9th place, second from the bottom of the league table.

The 2021-22 season began well for Heo as he put up 26 points and 5 rebounds against Suwon KT Sonicboom in the season opening game. With the departure of Doo, who was traded to Daegu KOGAS Pegasus, he was forced to fill Doo's void as the team's main three-pointer specialist. However, in October against Goyang Orion Orions, he failed to score ten three-point shots in a row, leading commentators to humorously draw parallels with his father setting the same unwanted personal record during the 2000-01 season. In December, Heo reached two personal career benchmarks: the most points scored in a single game and reaching 3,000 points. He scored 39 points in DB's narrow loss to Changwon LG Sakers on December 1. Two weeks later, against Daegu KOGAS Pegasus, he became the 97th player in KBL history to reach 3,000 career points. He became the first domestic player since the 2011–12 season to score more than 900 points in the regular season, a rare feat for a shooting guard in a league which is still largely dependent on foreign players (mainly forwards and centers) to score. DB failed to qualify for the playoffs but he was voted into the KBL Best 5 for the first time and was the player from the lowest-ranked team to be selected.

Jeonju KCC Egis (2022–present)
Heo became a free agent at the end of the 2021–22 season. On May 24, it was announced that he had signed a five-year contract with Jeonju KCC Egis.

National team career
Heo was selected for the youth national teams as a high school student and participated in the 2011 U-19 World Championship. He participated in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup and the 2018 Asian Games. Early on, during his father's tenure as the national team coach, Heo's selection was constantly a source of criticism and accusations of favouritism, which came to a head after South Korea failed to defend their gold medal at the Asian Games. His and his younger brother's selections were particularly criticized by the press and other league team coaches. Both brothers were also excluded from the squad list for the next several games after the Asian Games. He was recalled for the qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup and named in the World Cup preliminary squad but did not make the final 12-man squad.

In 2022, Heo was recalled to the national team for the first time in three years. Following his good form during the 2021–22 season, he was named in the squad to face the Philippines for a series of pre-2022 FIBA Asia Cup friendly games and was the first-option shooting guard. He made the final 12-man squad for the Asia Cup together with his younger brother, marking the first time since the 2018 Asian Games the brothers had been in the same squad for a major international tournament.

Personal life
Heo is the older son of retired South Korean basketball player and former national team coach Hur Jae. His younger brother Heo Hoon also played for Yonsei University and currently plays for Suwon KT Sonicboom.

Heo Ung and Heo Hoon launched a jointly-run YouTube channel called Ko Sambuja (코삼부자), documenting their lives as professional athletes. Ko (코) is the Korean word for nose, a tongue in cheek reference to the brothers and their father having large noses, and sambuja (삼부자) means "father and son trio". In July 2021 they received the Silver Creator Award button for surpassing 100,000 subscribers.

Since June 2022, Heo has been represented by ESteem Entertainment.

Filmography

Television shows

Web series

References

External links
Career Statistics from the Korean Basketball League website 
FIBA record and statistics — FIBA official website

1993 births
Living people
South Korean men's basketball players
Basketball players from Seoul
Guards (basketball)
Wonju DB Promy players
Basketball players at the 2018 Asian Games
Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea
Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games
Asian Games medalists in basketball
Yonsei University alumni
Yangcheon Heo clan
허웅(許雄, 1993년 8월 5일 ~ )은 한국 프로 농구 부산 KCC 이지스 소속 농구 선수이다.

2014년 KBL 드래프트에서 전체 5순위로 원주 DB 프로미에 지명되었다.

전 고양 데이원 점퍼스 사장겸 구단주인 허재가 그의 아버지이며, 동생 허훈은 상무 농구단소속 선수이다.

원주 동부 프로미 시절 
2014년 KBL 드래프트에서 연세대학교 3학년때 얼리 드래프트로 나와

1라운드 5순위로 원주 동부 프로미에 지명되었다. 바로 전 순번 (4순위) 전주 KCC 이지스의 감독이였던

아버지 허재가 아들인 허웅을 건너뛰고 김지후를 지명하였다.

2015년 12월 11일 전주 KCC 이지스전에서 김태술을 블록슛처리를 하면서

자신의 프로데뷔 이후 첫 블록슛을 기록했다. 2015-2016 프로농구 올스타전 팬투표에서 50,518 표를 얻으며

'전체 1위'를 하였고, 2016-2017 프로농구 올스타전 팬투표에서 53,157 표를

얻으며 2년 연속 투표 전체 1위를 하였다.

데뷔 2년차 시즌부터 꾸준히 평균 두 자리 득점을 기록하며 성장세를 그렸다.

2021-2022시즌에는 개인 최다인 16.7점에 3점슛 2.1개 4.2어시스트를 곁들이며 생애 첫 베스트5로 선정됐다.

2021-2022 프로농구 올스타 팬 투표 역대 최다인 16만 3850표를 얻는가 하면, 사상 최초로 3시즌 연속 인기상도 수상했다.

 원주 동부 프로미의 주전 가드이자 팀의 에이스로 활약했다.

상무 농구단 시절 
2016-2017시즌이 끝난후 상무( 국군체육부대, 신협 상무 농구단 )에 지원하여

이승현, 김준일, 임동섭, 문성곤 그리고 팀 동료인 김창모와 함께 합격하였다.

2017년 5월 8일 입대하였으며, 전역 예정일은 2019년 1월 29일이다.

그리고 2017 FIBA 남자농구 아시아컵 대한민국 농구 국가대표팀에 선발되어 평균 9.9득점 , 2 리바운드 , 1.4 어시스트를 기록하였다.

2019년 1월 29일 이승현, 김준일, 임동섭, 문성곤 그리고 팀 동료인 김창모와 함께 전역하였다.

전주 KCC 이지스 시절 
2022년 5월 23일 이승현과 함께 전주 KCC 이지스로 이적 하였다. 24일 이승현과 함께 KCC 입단 기자회견을 진행할 예정이라고 한다.

24일 서초동 소재 KCC본사에서 입단식을 갖고 계약기간 5년, 첫 시즌 보수총액 7억 5000만원에 KCC와 계약을 체결했다.

2022-2023 SKT 에이닷 프로농구 올스타 팬 투표 최종 결과 총 237,716표 가운데 142,475표를 획득하여 개인 통산 네 번째로 올스타 팬 투표 1위에 올랐다.

출신 학교 
 서울삼광초등학교
 용산중학교
 용산고등학교
 연세대학교 스포츠레저학과

경력 
 2022 FIBA 남자농구 아시아컵 농구 국가대표
 2018 제18회 자카르타-팔렘방 아시안게임 농구 국가대표
2017 대한민국 농구 국가대표팀 국가대표 (등번호 : No.6)
 2016 대한민국 농구 국가대표팀 국가대표 (등번호 : No.9)
 2015 광주 하계 유니버시아드 농구 국가대표
 2015 아시아 퍼시픽 챌린지 농구 국가대표
 2011 제10회 FIBA U-19 세계남자농구선수권대회 청소년대표

수상 내역 
 2023 2022-2023 SKT 에이닷 프로농구 인기상
 2022 2021-2022 KGC인삼공사 정관장 프로농구 베스트 5
 2022 2021-2022 KGC인삼공사 정관장 프로농구 인기상
 2022 2021-2022 KGC인삼공사 정관장 프로농구 올스타전 최우수선수(MVP)
 2020-2021 현대모비스 프로농구 인기상
 2019-2020 현대모비스 프로농구 인기상
2018 제18회 자카르타-팔렘방 아시안게임 농구 남자 5x5 동메달
2016 2015-2016 KCC 프로농구 정규리그 기량발전상
 2012 KB국민은행 대학농구리그 시상식 신인상
 2011 제48회 춘계 전국남녀 중고농구연맹전 준우승

방송 
 2016년 MBC 《마이 리틀 텔레비전》 - 게스트
 2021년 JTBC 《뭉쳐야 쏜다》 - 게스트
 2021년 MBC 《놀면뭐하니?》 - 게스트 (허재와 함께 깜짝출연)
 2021년 KBS2 《옥탑방의 문제아들》 - 게스트
 2021년 tvN 《업글인간》 - 게스트
 2021년 KBS2 《사장님 귀는 당나귀 귀》 - 게스트
 2021년 MBC 에브리원 《비디오스타》 - 게스트
 2021년 JTBC 《해방타운》 - 게스트
 2021년 TV조선 《식객 허영만의 백반기행》 - 게스트
 2021년 MBC 《안싸우면 다행이야》 - 게스트
 2021년 tvN 《식스센스 2》 - 게스트
 2021년 MBC 《호적메이트》 - 게스트
 2022년 JTBC 《아는 형님》 - 게스트 (with 허재)
 2022년 JTBC 《허섬 세월 - 허삼 부자 섬집 일기》 - 고정출연 (With 허훈, 허재)
 2023년 MBC 《구해줘! 홈즈》- 게스트

드라마 
 2022년 카카오페이지 《대놓고 사내연애》 - 지도훈 역

가족 관계 
 아버지 : 허재(방송인, 전 KCC 감독, 전 대한민국 농구 국가대표팀 감독 전 고양 데이원 점퍼스 단장, 방송인 1965년 9월 28일 57세)
 어머니 : 이미수
 남동생 : 허훈 수원 KT 소닉붐 소속, 1995년 8월 16일생 26세)

각주

외부 링크 
 

1993년 출생
양천 허씨
살아있는 사람
서울삼광초등학교 동문
용산중학교 (서울) 동문
용산고등학교 동문
연세대학교 교육과학대학 동문
대한민국의 남자 농구 선수
부산 KCC 이지스 선수
2018년 아시안 게임 농구 참가 선수
20세기 대한민국 사람
21세기 대한민국 사람