The KBL Best 5 (Korean: 베스트 5) an annual honor bestowed on the best players in the Korean Basketball League following every season. The honor is analogous to the "All-NBA Team" in the NBA or "Team of the Year" in association football. Voting is conducted by a panel of KBL-registered reporters and journalists who exclusively cover the sport.[1] Both domestic and foreign players are eligible for selection.
"One-club man" Yang Dong-geun holds the all-time record for the most number of selections, with nine, and Seo Jang-hoon and Kim Joo-sung are jointly ranked second, with eight selections. Moon Tae-jong and his younger brother Moon Tae-young were both selected for the 2013–14 season's Best 5, the only occasion where a pair of brothers were simultaneously selected. Heo Ung and Heo Hoon are the only other pair of brothers who have been voted into the Best 5, albeit on separate occasions.
Selections
^
Denotes players who are still active in the KBL
*
Denotes players who have been voted into the KBL All-Time Legend 12
Player (X)
Denotes the number of times the player has been selected
From the inception of the honor, voters have selected two guards, two forwards and a center. Best 5 teams are listed according to their positions in the following descending order: two guards, two forwards and a center. The positions are generally the position the player is registered as with the KBL but "swingman" players may be listed under the position they played the most in for that particular season, resulting several players being voted into the Best 5 on different occasions in different positions.
From the 2019–20 season onwards, the season's five best players are selected by voters without regard to position.[9] The five players who received the most votes are selected. Players are listed in descending order by number of votes received.
^Domestic basketball was then an amateur sport and the inaugural season of the professional league began play in February 1997 to allow for a smooth transition.
^Award was revoked after the KBL permanently expelled Shannon due to his drug possession charges.[2]
^Akins was later known by his Korean name Chon Tae-poong (전태풍) after obtaining South Korean citizenship and renouncing his American citizenship as South Korean law did not allow for dual nationality at that time.[3]
^Stevenson has been known by his Korean name Moon Tae-young (문태영) after obtaining South Korean citizenship through his Korean mother.
^Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020, the KBL board of directors voted to end the season early, in the middle of the fifth round, and cancel the play-offs. Instead the KBL board of directors declared Wonju DB Promy and Seoul SK Knights as joint first place on the league table.[11]
