David Simon leads the Korean Basketball League (KBL) in scoring, he’s one of the best players in the league, and he’s being kicked out of the KBL for a very unusual reason. He’s too tall.
The Korean Basketball League’s No. 1 player was banned because he’s too tall
A bizarre ruling is ruining a career.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Dwindling basketball audiences in Korea have caused the league to try to examine why there’s a problem, which they determined to be teams having an over-reliance on tall players. In an effort to shift focus away from getting big men, the KBL has imposed a 2-meter height restriction on all players in the league. This means that Simon, who is 6’9 is well over the limit, which is set at 6’6.
“I wasn’t one of the tallest players, I wasn’t even the tallest player on my own team. Personally, I don’t really understand it.”
The rule is only effecting foreign-born players, which means 7’3 Ha Seung-jin is still allowed to compete. The move by the KBL is being widely criticized inside the country. An online petition is being circulated to try to stop the move by the KBL.
“This is an international shame. It’s disgusting that a player like Simon is forced to retire in South Korea because of this ridiculous rule.”
Simon has been in the league since 2010. In the 2017-18 season he averaged 25.68 points, the best in the league — now he’s out in the most bizarre way.
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