Seoul Samsung Thunders

Seoul Samsung Thunders (Korean: 서울 삼성 썬더스) is a professional basketball team, competing in the Korean Basketball League. Ever since the club was founded in 1978, they have been associated with Samsung Electronics. Initially based in Suwon, they relocated to Seoul in 2001, and had played their home games at Jamsil Arena ever since.

Seoul Samsung Thunders 서울 삼성 썬더스
League	Korean Basketball League
Founded	1978; 47 years ago (1978)
History	Samsung Men's Basketball Club 1978–1982 Samsung Electronics Basketball Club 1982–1996 Suwon Samsung Thunders 1996–2001 Seoul Samsung Thunders 2001–present
Arena	Jamsil Arena
Capacity	11,069
Location	Seoul, Republic of Korea
Team colors	Blue, white, yellow
Head coach	Kim Hyo-beom
Team captain	Lee Dong-yeop
Affiliation(s)	Cheil Worldwide
Championships	2 Korean Leagues
Retired numbers	10 Kim Hyun-jun
Website	thunders.kbl.or.kr
Home Away

History

The Thunders were founded in 1978, and joined the professional Korean Basketball League (KBL) in 1997.^[1] They won two championships in 2001 and 2006 with players such as Moon Kyung-eun, Lee Sang-min and Seo Jang-hoon.^[1]

Team names

• 1978–1982: Samsung Men's Basketball Club
• 1982–1996: Samsung Electronics Basketball Club
• 1996–2001: Suwon Samsung Thunders
• 2001–present: Seoul Samsung Thunders

Current roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities not displayed.

Seoul Samsung Thunders roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age G 1 Lee Dong-yeop 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 31 – (1994-02-22)22 February 1994 G 2 Lee Ho-hyun 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) 32 – (1992-12-02)2 December 1992 G 3 Lee Jung-hyun (C) 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 38 – (1987-03-03)3 March 1987 G 5 Kim Si-rae 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) 36 – (1989-03-22)22 March 1989 F 6 Choi Seung-wook 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 31 – (1994-04-15)15 April 1994 G 7 Kim Hyun-soo 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 35 – (1990-01-31)31 January 1990 PG 8 Kim Moo-sung 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) 28 – (1997-03-28)28 March 1997 F 9 Jang Min-guk 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 36 – (1989-07-05)5 July 1989 C 11 Lee Weon-seok 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 25 – (2000-01-30)30 January 2000 G 14 Kim Jin-young 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 27 – (1998-06-22)22 June 1998 F 17 Cha Min-seok 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 23 – (2001-09-16)16 September 2001 F 19 Kang Ba-il 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 30 – (1995-03-02)2 March 1995 G 20 Park Min-chae 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 24 – (2000-08-28)28 August 2000 G 21 Kim Gwang-cheol 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 31 – (1994-03-27)27 March 1994 C 22 Kim Han-sol 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 30 – (1994-08-28)28 August 1994 F 24 Shin Dong-hyuk 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 25 – (2000-01-20)20 January 2000 G 25 Jeon Hyung-jun 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) 27 – (1998-01-14)14 January 1998 C 32 Jo Woo-sung 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1998-09-18)18 September 1998 PF Darral Willis (I) 29 – (1996-01-21)21 January 1996 C Anthony Morse (I) 31 – (1994-04-13)13 April 1994	Head coach Eun Hee-seok Assistant coach(es) Kim Hyo-beom Lee Doo-hun Kim Bo-hyun Legend (C) Team captain (I) Import player Injured Roster Updated: 15 January 2023

Season by season

Year	Regular season			Playoffs
	Position	Won	Lost
1997	8th	6	15	Did not qualify
1997–98	9th	17	28	Did not qualify
1998–99	6th	25	20	Semifinals
1999–00	3rd	23	22	Semifinals
2000–01	1st	34	11	Champions
2001–02	8th	24	30	Did not qualify
2002–03	5th	28	26	First round
2003–04	5th	28	26	First round
2004–05	5th	27	27	Semifinals
2005–06	2nd	32	22	Champions
2006–07	5th	29	25	First round
2007–08	3rd	32	22	Runners-up
2008–09	4th	30	24	Runners-up
2009–10	6th	26	28	First round
2010–11	6th	27	27	First round
2011–12	10th	13	41	Did not qualify
2012–13	6th	22	32	First round
2013–14	8th	19	35	Did not qualify
2014–15	10th	11	43	Did not qualify
2015–16	5th	29	25	First round
2016–17	3rd	34	20	Runners-up
2017–18	7th	25	29	Did not qualify
2018–19	10th	11	43	Did not qualify
2019–20[a]	7th	19	24	Not held
2020–21	7th	24	30	Did not qualify
2021–22	10th	9	45	Did not qualify
2022–23	10th	14	40	Did not qualify
2023–24	10th	14	40	Did not qualify
2024–25	10th	16	38	Did not qualify

1. The 2019–20 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea.

Honours

Domestic

• Korean Basketball League championship

Winners: 2000–01, 2005–06

Runners-up: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2016–17

• Korean Basketball League regular season

Winners: 2000–01

Runners-up: 2005–06

Continental

• FIBA Asia Champions Cup

Third place: 1988

• ABA Club Championship

Winners: 2001, 2007, 2010

Third place: 2008, 2009

International invitationals

• Merlion Cup

Third place: 2016