While Spurs fans in San Antonio pack bars, restaurants and living rooms to watch Wemby and the crew block and shoot their way to victory, something happens across the ocean. Spurs faithful all the way in South Korea are streaming games on their phones — sometimes while sitting at their work desks — and running to the group chat to talk about every clutch play.
MySA spoke with members of the Spurs Korea fan club over a video call, helped by a member named Tami Kang, who lives here in San Antonio. Kang reports happenings in the Alamo City to the club, including social media manager Taesung Gwan and Hyeongjin Park, who makes merch and goodies for the members.
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Kang, who’s a vice president of the Korean American Association of San Antonio, said she moved here in 2003 and became a Spurs fan the following year.
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“I grew up going to the games all the time. Pretty much every game, me, my two cousins and my uncle will go to the game, and … this is how I learned English — watching basketball,” she said. ” I didn’t know who any of those players were, but I think that’s what made San Antonio home for me.”
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Park lives near Seoul, the country’s capital and home to nearly 10 million people. He said the NBA has been big there since the days of Michael Jordan. That echoes Tokyo-based Spurs fan Taro Kotani, who told MySA he became a follower when the NBA gained popularity in Japan with players like Jordan, Magic Johnson and others. For him, it was the Spurs’ David Robinson who brought him into the fray.
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Meanwhile, Gwan lives in the more southern city of Daegu. He said the club has over 200 members in its KakaoTalk group (a popular messaging app in Korea), and because they’re scattered throughout the country, they’ll meet once every three months to discuss the games. Park added that when the playoffs roll around, Spurs Korea hopes to organize a watch party — though Seoul is 15 hours ahead of San Antonio, which makes viewing the games difficult.
Park, whose favorite player is Devin Vassell, said he’s been an NBA viewer for about 10 years but became a Spurs fan after watching Wemby play in an All-Star game. His hope for this season is for the players to remain healthy and for the Spurs to win the Finals. Additionally, he said, “We’re watching [the NBA] from far away, from Korea, pretty much alone in the morning, but we’re chatting in a room with 200 people,” which he’s thankful for. Also, to make it to a game is on his “bucket list,” as he wants to bring the goodies and merch he makes and cheer as loud as possible.
Gwan echoed that desire to see the Spurs victorious. He’s been a fan since he “saw a future in the Spurs” while watching them play in 2012 and 2013. When the Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals last season, Gwan said it was “a festival” in their KakaoTalk chat — so he wants the team to finally win the “race for seis.”
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He and everyone in San Antonio are in agreement.
