Another MJ
Matthew Jung currently plays shooting guard for the Winling Basketball Cub, and is proclaimed to be “the second best bald basketball player from Chicago with the initials MJ.” He talks hoops with Bobby Lei.
HK Magazine: How did you fall in love with the game?
Matthew Jung: I started playing when I was 10, and was naturally gifted at putting the ball in the basket. I fell in love immediately, and built a basket in the driveway, never leaving it until the end of high school. I’ve played in Hong Kong for the last eight years, and learned Cantonese and Mandarin along the way.
HK: How would you describe your style?
MJ: In college, my coach called me “The Kamikaze” because I was small for my position but strong and fast. They’d set me loose to shoot as much as possible.
HK: Do you have any trademark moves?
MJ: They call it the four-pointer. I shoot the ball from really far, 25-28 feet away (the international three-point line is 20 feet 6 inches from the basket). It sometimes goes in. It drives my coaches crazy, but I do it for the fans.
HK: What's your lifestyle like?
MJ: After my 12-hour workday, I train for three hours and still manage to eat and sleep. It’s helped me maintain a healthy balance, mentally and physically. I choose to devote myself to this game at the expense of socializing. I’m used to it now, but starting to feel it physically. I’m old in the scheme of Hong Kong basketball. A Chinese newspaper nicknamed me “the old horse that has fire.”
HK: How’s the basketball scene in Hong Kong these days?
MJ: As long as I’ve been here, the sport hasn’t been as high-profile or widely followed as it is now. The overall player level is the best I’ve seen. There’s great commitment and self-determination among the young players. As an honorary transplanted person, it makes me proud to see the level now.
Winling is a Hong Kong Basketball Association Division I team (www.basketball.org.hk).