“It’s disrespectful to basketball players.”
The recent dismissal of Yoo Yoo-hoon as head coach of Daegu KOGAS has raised concerns in the basketball community.
This is because the process of parting ways with Yoo is setting a bad precedent and hurting not only the team but also fellow basketball players.
The KOGAS issued a press release on the 1st, announcing that it had voted to terminate the contracts of general manager Shin Seung-woo, general manager Lee Min-hyung, head coach Yoo Yoo-hoon, and assistant coach Kim Seung-hwan.
In addition, KOGAS said, “After discussing how to operate the club efficiently, we have appointed Kim Byung-sik, an internal executive, as the new head coach. By appointing an internal executive as the head coach, like the organizational system of other clubs, we expect efficient decision-making and rational operation of the professional basketball team through smooth communication with the club.”
Coach Yoo then issued a statement on the 4th, saying, “Recently, the company has unilaterally notified me of the termination of my contract ahead of the season. The company has given me a reason for termination that is unacceptable as well as seriously damaging my honor.” “I plan to decide what to do about the company’s reason for terminating my contract and the notification after careful consideration,” he said, announcing a ‘legal response’.
The basketball world began to react. It’s not just a matter of “partnership,” but the way GAS is handling the situation is undermining the order of professional sports. “Who would want to be the leader of GASCO if they cut them off like that? It gives the impression that they are disrespecting all basketball players,” said one volmen.
Based on the opinions of the basketball community, the restructuring of GASCO was not unexpected. After the election of President Yoon Seok-yeol, the ruling party changed from the Democratic Party to the People’s Power, and the head of GASCO also became a ‘regime change’.
As with any regime change, ‘erasing the traces of the previous regime’ was a predictable step. Moreover, the GASCO was in dire financial straits, so a reorganization was inevitable. In the midst of this, the basketball team created by former president Chae Hee-bong was subject to an overhaul, and the positions of general manager and head coach, who were talked about a lot during the recruitment process, must have stood out as ‘unnecessary positions’.
Up to this point, most basketball fans can understand. However, treating even Yoo as a “wholesale level” is incomprehensible. Yoo has been with the same team for 14 years, since the days of E-Land, the predecessor of GASCO. Not only did he take the helm, but he also became a “mastermind” by turning the team from a financial crisis to a playoff regular every year. He was approached by other clubs to take over, but his loyalty to the team kept him from leaving the ‘poor’ E-Land. When GAS took over E-Land in 2021, there was no reason not to appoint Yoo, who was recognized for his ability. No one in the basketball world around him thought that Yoo’s “employment succession” was a “strange appointment”.
The controversial general manager and head coach appointments came long after Yoo’s arrival. This is why critics say, “It is excessive to treat Mr. Yoo as ‘one in the same’ while ignoring all of his past achievements and abilities as a leader, even though the cases of the general manager and director are different.”스포츠토토
Furthermore, the gas company did not honor the last of the honors. In professional basketball and other professional sports, it is not uncommon to fire a coach with a remaining contract and not resolve the remaining salary issue. If you don’t want to settle the remaining salary, you can simply guarantee the tenure as per the contract.
GAS decided to part ways with Yoo while the issue was still unresolved. The fact that Yoo cited “defamation” and “unacceptable reasons for termination” in his statement shows how unilateral the company was.
A basketball player who is familiar with Yoo’s situation said, “It’s not that he’s struggling to make ends meet right now…, or that he’s greedy for the rest of his salary. He is resisting because if he resigns like this, it will set a bad precedent for younger coaches.”