Lagana breaks Haines scoring record, hopes to surpass Seo Jang-hoon
2330 points behind Jang-hoon Seo, the world leader including domestic players
Can Ragan-ah (34-Busan KCC), who surpassed Haynes, break Seo Jang-hoon’s record and become the No. 1 scorer in professional basketball?
In a regular-season game against Seoul Eskay (SK) in the 2023-2024 Korean Basketball League at Busan Sajik Gymnasium on Nov. 11, Ragan-ah hit a mid-range shot with 55 seconds left in the first quarter to surpass 18,800 career points and overtake Aaron Haynes (18,878 points) to become the all-time leading foreign player scorer.
Haynes held the record for most career points by a foreign player after playing 13 seasons with the Eskies.
With his 29 points in the 90-75 win over KC, Lagunia now has 10,901 career points, passing Jang Hoon Seo (13,321) for the all-time scoring lead by 2,330 points.
He also added 15 steals on the night, extending his lead on the all-time steals list (6,348).
Lagana, who plays under the name Ricardo Ratliff, joined the Ulsan Hyundai Mobis in the 2012-2013 season.
Although he is not tall for a foreign player (199 centimeters), he has long arms and runs the court with tremendous quickness and activity, leading the Hyundai Mobis to three consecutive championships.
He became a South Korean citizen through a special naturalization process in 2018, and played as the starting center for the South Korean national team in international competitions, including the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games that year.
However, the Korean Basketball League (KBL) classifies him as a foreign player for the purpose of averaging his stats.
Ragan, who is averaging 13.8 points per game this season, would need to play 169 games at 13.8 points per game to mathematically catch up to Seo’s record. 안전토토사이트
That’s at least three more seasons and seven more games.
That’s if Lagana, who celebrates his 35th birthday on February 20, continues to play until he’s 39.
If he averages 10 points per game, that’s 233 games.
That’s four seasons and 17 more games, meaning he’d have to play until he’s 40 to break the record.
After averaging 23.4 points in the 2019-2020 season while playing for the Ulsan Hyundai Mobis, his scoring has dropped to 18.8, 17.5, and 13.8 points in his last three years in a KC uniform.
It’s a tall order, but not impossible if he stays in shape.
It will be interesting to see if Ragan-ah, who has already left his mark on Korean professional basketball, can surpass Seo Jang-hoon’s all-time scoring record.
