Ha Seung-jin


Ha Seung-Jin is a South Korean professional basketball player who has played in the NBA and the NBA D-League. He was a second round draft pick 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 South Korean to play in the NBA.

Career

Before playing in the NBA, Ha played for in high school for Samil Commercial School and in college for Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. Ha arrived in Los Angeles, California in 2004 to prepare himself for the 2004 NBA Draft. Ha played seven tournament games with the Yonsei basketball team in his high school senior year and averaged 12.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks; Yonsei won the national title. He played briefly with the Portland Reign of the ABA. 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, 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.
On July 31, 2006, Ha was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a four-player deal. On October 28, 2006, he was waived by the Bucks. He was acquired by the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA Development League on December 31, 2006, whom he spent time with.
Ha later played professional basketball in South Korea as a member of the team KCC Jeonju, which won the 2009 and 2011 Korean Basketball League championships. Ha has represented the South Korea national basketball team in the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship, 2010 Asian Games, and 2011 FIBA Asia Championship.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Family

Ha's older sister, Ha Eun-Joo, who has gigantism, is also a professional basketball player. A 6'8" center, she signed with Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA on February 6, 2006, and was later waived on May 19, for failing to arrive in Los Angeles due to a conflicting contract with Chanson Cosmetics of the Japanese league. On July, 2006, she signed with Incheon Shinhan Bank S-Birds of the WKBL.