Last Match & the College Basketball Boom
Original Korean title
마지막 승부·농구대잔치 열풍
This refers to the Korean basketball craze that peaked alongside the 1994 TV drama Last Match.
Originated around 1994Last updated: August 4, 2026
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What does it mean?
The 1994 MBC drama Last Match, together with the manga Slam Dunk, is credited as a driving force behind Korea's 1990s basketball boom, a period when the college-basketball tournament known as the "Nongu Daejanchi" reached peak popularity and laid the groundwork for the launch of the professional Korean Basketball League (KBL).
Where did it start?
Last Match was an MBC Monday-Tuesday miniseries that aired from January 3 to February 22, 1994, starring Jang Dong-gun, Son Ji-chang, and Shim Eun-ha in a basketball-themed story. Game scenes were filmed at Jamsil Students' Gymnasium during the actual college basketball tournament, capturing the real atmosphere and creating a feedback loop between the drama and the real-life basketball boom; alongside Slam Dunk, it's considered one of the works that drove 1990s Korean basketball's popularity, and it's also cited as one of the early Korean Wave dramas exported to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
How is it used?
Can be cited as a prime example of the early-1990s basketball craze.
Ratings by context haven't been confirmed yet.
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Last Match & the College Basketball Boom: This refers to the Korean basketball craze that peaked alongside the 1994 TV drama Last Match.
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