KoreaToday Becoming Korean
Ethnic Draft No. 1 Pick Akins Wants to Represent Korea
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
South Korean basketball suffered a meltdown at the Asian Basketball Championships in Tianjin, China, two weeks ago, finishing seventh.
The result meant the team will not qualify for the World Championship next year.
And there may be no one who laments the setback more bitterly than KCC Egis point guard Tony Akins because the Korean-American basketball player believes he is Korean and will be eligible for the national team soon.
Akins was the No. 1 pick in the first ever ethnic Korean draft of the Korean Basketball League (KBL) in February.
"I was very happy and very proud because I am Korean and I have a chance to play in the KBL," Akins said in an interview with The Korea Times.
"It is something that I have wanted for a long time.''
Along with Akins, four more Korean-American basketball players ― Eric Sandrin, Chris Vann, Gregory Stevenson and Kevin Mitchell - were selected.
The point guard, born to a Korean mother and an American father, had played in the European leagues ― Greece, Turkey, France, Croatia, Russia and Poland, which are seen as more competitive than the KBL ― for seven years before coming to Korea.
"One (reason I chose the KBL is) because I am Korean and the other is I want to represent the national team,'' the 29-year-old said.
"I know I couldn't (play) last summer because I passed the citizenship test too late, but I hope next season I can play for it.
"Representing Korea is more important than playing just in European countries."
Although Akins passed the citizenship test in July, the process for getting citizenship takes about two months.
As a result, he could not play for the national team, stewarded by his Egis head coach Hur Jae, in China despite making the 24-player preliminary roster.
Instead, he had hoped for the team to finish in the top 3 at the Asian Championship, which would have earned a qualification for the World Championships in Turkey in 2010.
"I was upset,'' he said.
"I needed them to win for next year. … We cannot control everything.''
Akins, who was born in Detroit but raised in Los Angeles for 13 years from the age of one, is becoming more Korean, as, along with the citizenship, he has adopted his Korean name ― Jeon Tae-poong. Tae-poong means "typhoon"
"Just because I know that when I come to the KBL, a lot of things are going to change. Maybe, for the KBL basketball style. Maybe, I don't know. I am hoping," he said.
"You know, kind of, a typhoon just changes and stirs stuffs up. I like the name, and my last name is my mom's."
Akins has a significant symbol of his identity stashed on his back - a big tattoo of the Korean national flag surrounded by the Stars and Stripes.
"That is how I am. Growing up in America, all my friends were Americans but some of the stuff that I did was different than my friends,'' he said.
"A lot of times when I was with Korean friends, I could understand more and then I just started understanding that I was more Korean than I thought I was.
"I wanted the tattoo just to represent that."
Solid Career in College and KBL Tryout
Akins, who played for the U.S. under-17 team and won silver at the world championships in 1997, graduated from Georgia Tech, a prestigious basketball program in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which produced many National Basketball Association (NBA) players, such as Mark Price, Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury and Chris Bosh, and started for the Yellow Jackets for four years.
The left-handed point guard averaged 13.6 points and 4.6 assists during the span and he is now ranked high in several categories of Tech's all-time list: second in career three-pointers with 301, fourth in assists with 560, sixth in steals with 173 and 11th in points with 1,658.
"My college career was great. I averaged 17 points and 5.7 assists (in my senior season in 2001),'' said Akins, who made the all-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) second team at that time.
"Our team only made the NCAA tournament at my junior year in 2001, but all the other years, made the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) tournaments.''
In the 2000-01 season, Akins and Georgia Tech advanced to the second round at the big dance, where they fell to the Saint Joseph's Hawks, led by eventual NBA All-Star guard Jameer Nelson, who now plays for the Orlando Magic.
After failing to be selected in the NBA draft, he played in Europe before applying for the KBL tryout for imported players in Las Vegas in July 2008.
Akins showed off his prowess there and drew buzz from several coaches who said he would be the best point guard in the KBL.
Despite his competitive skills, however, he could not find any suitors because teams usually favor centers and power forwards, who can play down low.
"I already knew that I was not going to be selected. They told me before I had applied for the foreigner draft because they said that for foreign players, they wanted them to be tall. So I understand,'' said 1.80-meter Akins.
"But I just wanted to show the KBL that I can just play basketball instead of trying to show them my resume. Let them see first hand that I can play."
After finding a few good Korean-American basketball players, the KBL held the ethnic Korean draft and the Jeonju-based team selected him with their No. 1 pick.
Akins Gives Egis High Expectation to Repeat
With the addition of Akins, the reigning champion Egis have formed a formidable lineup, and Hur's side has high expectations for its second straight title.
The only four-time winner in KBL history has kept its championship roster mostly intact _ including 2.21-meter center Ha Seung-jin, veteran swingman Choo Seung-gyun and quick guard Kang Byung-hyun.
In addition, beginning next season, each team may only have one foreign player on the court at any time, so his joining should give the Egis a big boost.
"I think Akins will play up to expectations,'' Hur told The Korea Times.
"As we have made up for the guard position, which was weak last year, we will be able to play better this season.''
"His individual skills are outstanding,'' 12-year pro Choo told The Korea Times.
"And if he is in harmony with the way the team plays, we will have much easier games.
"But as we won the championship last season, he could feel pressured. We will try to relieve it by talking with him a lot.''
As Choo said, Akins will be under pressure this season.
"A lot of pressure. It is kind of saying like you have to be perfect, as you know (it is) always difficult to be perfect,'' he said.
"It is a challenge that is exciting at the same time. Because now your goal is this high instead of this high and I meet the challenge head on and I think our team will too. Very excited for this season."
Despite those concerns, Akins is looking forward to the new season because the league is loaded with high-profile point guards to play against him.
"(I have) heard most about Kim Seung-hyun of the Daegu Orions. I have seen couple of his games. He is a good player,'' said Akin, who resembles San Antonio Spurs' French guard Tony Parker.
"The other point guard is Yang Dong-geun for the national team and the Ulsan Mobis. Joo Hee-jung, who was traded for the SK Knights, is good too.
"There are some good point guards in this league that I very excited to play (against)."
Goals in KBL
Like every first-year player, Akins seeks to become the best rookie in the league, and furthermore, contribute to his team's success.
"My short-term goal is to be successful. My goal right now is ― even though I will be the oldest rookie in the KBL ― I want the rookie of the year (award),'' he said.
"And I want our team to win the championship and Ha Seung-jin and Choo Seung-kyun to get the Most Valuable Player (MVP). I just want our team to do well and to dominate the KBL.''
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, another Korean-American, visited Korea after becoming the Super Bowl MVP in 2006 and worked for ethnic minorities in South Korea.
And Akins wants to do similar jobs in his mother's native country.
"I hope the way I play and my personality just have influenced on the Korean society and the KBL,'' he said.