“Coach (Satellite Woo), we’re not winning anymore (laughs).”
Asan Woori Bank won 78-72 in Game 4 of the Woori WON 2023-24 Women’s Professional Basketball Championship against Cheongju KB Stars at Asan Sunshin Gymnasium on Tuesday to take the title with a 3-1 series victory.
The second-ranked Woori Bank was able to upset the No. 1 KB Stars in the regular season thanks to Kim Dan-bi. She was responsible for all of Woori Bank’s offense while also being Park Ji-soo’s designated mark.
In Game 4 of the championship game, Kim had a phenomenal performance of 24 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 5 blocked shots. She gave a 100% performance on both offense and defense.
After the win, Kim said, “I’m still in a bit of a daze. I still can’t believe it, even after the game I was like, ‘Is this real? We trained so hard. And I’m grateful to everyone for the win. I’m also grateful to the fans,” he said.
Kim Dan-bi won the title soon after joining Woori Bank. She was named the Finals MVP for the second time after the 2022-23 season. Tamika Catching, Ha Eun-joo, Lim Young-hee, Park Hye-jin, and Kim Dan-bi are the only other players to have been named Finals MVP twice in a row.
“When I first came to Woori Bank, I thought I only wanted to be number one. But I became the Final MVP twice. I thought I would never be a Final MVP in my basketball life, but I became one not once, but twice. Thank you to everyone who supported me, especially my teammates. Thank you so much for making my basketball life happy,” she said.
Only Park Hye-jin has won three consecutive Finals MVPs in WKBL history. If Kim wins the title in the upcoming 2024-25 season, she will join Park as the Finals MVP.
“I don’t expect it at all. After winning the title, I hugged my coach and said, ‘I’m tired, I can’t win anymore, I can’t do it. I don’t want to do it now, not after winning three consecutive championships, not after being MVP. It’s too hard,” she laughs.
Kim Dan-bi was so tired that she said getting a good night’s sleep was what she wanted most after winning. “I dreamed of Samsung Life during the playoffs, KB Stars during the championship match, and (Park) Ji-soo. I almost went crazy. Now I just want to 사설토토 sleep properly.”
Finally, Kim Dan-bi had a message for Park Ji-soo, with whom she battled throughout the championship match.
“It was really hard to stop her,” Kim said. I had to jump two or three steps ahead of her because she is shorter. In fact, I just held her in place. The other players had a harder time rotating. It was a hard championship match for everyone,” he said.
“I apologize to Jisoo (laughs). I hit him a lot during the fight. It was another practice to stop a great center like Jisoo. Jisoo is a player who is going to move up in the game. KB Stars lost, but Jisoo didn’t lose. Next year, he will be able to go even higher, and we will prepare harder. We will be ready to face any opponent at any time.”