Korean basketball teams have achieved remarkable success at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, securing medals in every category of both men’s and women’s 5×5 and 3×3 competitions. This achievement comes amidst ongoing challenges in the sport’s domestic development and popularity.
The men’s 5×5 team ended a 12-year title drought by defeating Japan 67-57 in the final, while the men’s 3×3 team captured Korea’s first Asian Games title in that discipline with a 19-10 victory over Qatar. The women’s teams also shone, with the 3×3 team earning a bronze medal after a decisive 21-8 win against Thailand, and the 5×5 team reaching the final after a narrow 85-80 victory over China in the semifinals.
This success is a significant boost for Korean basketball, which has been facing declining popularity and struggles in nurturing its domestic talent pool. The Korean Basketball League saw its highest attendance in nine seasons with 811,185 spectators during the 2025-26 regular season, yet this remains below the peak of 1.2 million set in 2013-14. The country continues to rely on a relatively small pool of school and university players compared to Japan’s much larger system, with only 2,351 registered student-athletes.
The recent achievements have been bolstered by increased international exposure and structured preparation, especially for the 3×3 teams. Players participated in both domestic tournaments and international competitions leading up to the Asian Games, which helped raise their performance levels.
Despite the successful medal haul, experts and officials stress the need for further investment in player development, international competition, domestic leagues, and training infrastructure to sustain this progress. The women’s teams, in particular, face challenges in maintaining sufficient numbers for full 5×5 training sessions, highlighting the need for continued focus on growing the sport’s domestic base.