Chelsey Lee
Former Rutgers player and current member of the Washington Mystics training camp roster, Chelsey Lee, played as a “half Korean” player this past season in the Korean League. The WKBL allows all team to sign two foreign players with only one foreigner allowed in the game at a time. In addition to the two foreigners, the WKBL allows for people who are half korean or quarter Korean to count as full Koreans on the roster. Therefore they can be in the game along with the other American player. In a move that many were skeptical about, Lee apparently provided documents to the league that proved that her late grandmother was half or full Korean. The exact details were never made available to the public but there was speculation throughout the season that Chelsey Lee was not part Korean. During her season with Hana Bank, Lee helped to lead them to the Korean League Finals where they eventually lost to the defending champions Woori Bank. It was a turnaround season for Hana Bank as they had missed the playoffs the past several seasons.
It was not until the Korean National team attempted to naturalize Chelsey Lee which is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen in a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country that the documents were found to be suspicious. This is an ongoing investigation but the preliminary findings are that the birth certificates that were presented by Lee and her representatives for verification had been forged. If the allegations are found to be true, it will taint the results of the entire 2015-2016 WKBL season. We will have more information as it is released.
Reports on the matter in Korean;
- http://m.sports.naver.com/basketball/news/read.nhn?oid=056&aid=0010310914
- http://m.sports.naver.com/basketball/news/read.nhn?oid=022&aid=0003047816
What part of that girl is part Korean?
Apparently one of her grandparents was Korean or part Korean. The investigation is still ongoing.
She cheating for money? It’s shame for herself, her agent, the Hana Bank and the WKBL…
Agreed! I place the blame on all parties. On Lee for agreeing to defraud the the Korean league. On her agents for even presenting such a crooked idea and on the Korean League for not doing their due dilligence in making sure here documents were legit.
“Judge not, that ye be judged.” Lee, like most professional athletes, rely heavily on their agents. Unfortunately not all agents are reputable. And most athletes not being attorneys trust their agent to have good intentions and protect them, which was not the case in this situation. Since this incident one of the top USA agents has taken Ms. Lee on as a client which attests to not only her skill as a player, but also the veracity of her assertions since the South Korean situation presented itself.
No judgement here but Ms. Lee knew good and well that she was not half Korean. She is old enough to know a lie from the truth and that was one big fat lie that she agreed to go along with.