North Korea Basketball Team: 5 Surprising Facts You Never Knew About

I remember the first time I saw footage of North Korea's national basketball team playing - it was during the 2014 Asian Games, and what struck me wasn't just their distinctive red uniforms but the sheer mystery surrounding them. Most people think of North Korean sports and immediately picture mass games or military parades, but their basketball program has some genuinely fascinating aspects that rarely get discussed internationally. Having followed Asian basketball for over a decade, I've come to appreciate how North Korea's approach to the sport reflects their unique political and cultural circumstances while still maintaining the fundamental spirit of the game we all love.

One of the most surprising facts about North Korea's basketball team is their unusual scoring system. Back in 1990, Kim Jong-il actually implemented a rule where dunks were worth three points instead of two, and three-pointers were worth four points if nothing but net. While this rule was eventually abandoned for international competitions, it still occasionally appears in domestic games. I've always found this fascinating because it reveals how basketball can be adapted to local preferences - imagine if the NBA decided to implement something similar today! The chaos it would create among statisticians and fantasy basketball players alone would be incredible. This quirky historical fact demonstrates how North Korea has never been afraid to put their own spin on international sports.

What many people don't realize is that North Korea actually has a surprisingly deep basketball infrastructure. According to data I came across from 2018, there are approximately 1,200 registered basketball players in North Korea, with about 300 of them playing at what we might consider professional level. Their domestic league features 12 teams, though the exact number fluctuates occasionally due to economic and logistical considerations. Having visited several sports facilities in Asia, though not in North Korea specifically, I can imagine these facilities prioritize functionality over luxury. The players train in what we would consider spartan conditions by Western standards, but they develop remarkable fundamentals and team chemistry that sometimes catches more established basketball nations off guard during international competitions.

The height factor is another aspect that constantly surprises people. We tend to assume that successful basketball programs need multiple players over 7 feet tall, but North Korea's tallest player ever recorded was Ri Myong-hun at 7'8" - making him one of the tallest basketball players in history. Personally, I think his career illustrates both the advantages and challenges of extreme height in basketball. While he dominated defensively simply by standing near the basket, his mobility was significantly limited. Current North Korean teams typically feature players in the 6'5" to 6'10" range for their big men, which is considerably shorter than what you'd see in the NBA or even other Asian national teams. This height disadvantage forces them to develop exceptional speed, shooting accuracy, and tactical discipline - qualities that make them unpredictable opponents.

Their international competition record contains some genuinely surprising upsets that most basketball fans have completely forgotten. In the 1994 Asian Games, the North Korean women's team defeated South Korea in a stunning 72-70 victory that essentially came down to a last-second shot. The men's team has had less spectacular results but managed to finish 8th in the 2014 Asian Games, which was actually better than several countries with much larger basketball programs. I've always believed their occasional success stems from the element of surprise - since international scouts have limited access to their domestic games and training methods, opponents never quite know what to expect when facing them. This reminds me of how Phillips from the collegiate ranks has been considered for the Philippine national team according to recent reports - sometimes unknown quantities can create significant advantages in international competitions.

The political dimension of North Korean basketball cannot be overlooked, and this brings me to what might be the most surprising fact: basketball diplomacy has occasionally created openings in otherwise tense international relationships. When Dennis Rodman visited North Korea in 2013 and 2014, he wasn't just there as a celebrity tourist - he conducted actual basketball clinics for North Korean players and even played exhibition games with them. While his approach was certainly unconventional, I believe it highlighted basketball's unique potential to bridge political divides. The current situation with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas exploring options for coach Norman Black's squad ahead of the December 9-20 biennial meet shows how national teams are constantly evolving, and North Korea's approach to player selection and development operates under completely different parameters than what we're accustomed to seeing elsewhere.

After years of observing North Korean basketball from afar, what surprises me most is how the program persists and occasionally thrives despite tremendous obstacles. Their players display a level of dedication that I find genuinely admirable, even while acknowledging the political context in which they operate. While we might not see North Korea competing at the Olympics basketball tournament anytime soon, their unique approach to the sport offers fascinating insights into how basketball can develop along different paths in different societies. The next time you watch an international basketball competition, take a moment to consider the North Korean team - they represent one of the most unusual and misunderstood basketball cultures in the world, and I suspect we haven't seen the last of their surprises yet.