Nationality Taiwan Name Yen Hsing-su Albums The First Album Pro career 1995–2010 Weight 74 kg | Listed weight 163 lb (74 kg) Height 1.83 m Listed height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Role Basketball Player | |
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Born September 8, 1976 (age 47) Taipei County (now New Taipei City), Taiwan ( 1976-09-08 ) High school Private Nanshan Senior High School (私立南山高級中學), Taipei County, Taiwan Education Fu Jen Catholic University Similar People Ehlo Huang, Sam Wang, Jacky Chu, Ming Dao | ||
Yen hsing su top 5 facts
Yen Hsing-su (born September 8, 1978), also known as Johnny Yen, is a Taiwanese basketball coach and former basketball player, singer and actor. He is currently the head coach of the Fubon Braves in Taiwan's Super Basketball League.
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Nicknamed "The Basketball Genie" (籃球精靈) for his playmaking skills, Yen was a regular of the Chinese Taipei national basketball team from 1997 to 2003. At the 2003 ABC Championship, he led the tournament in assists (4.7 per game), but retired soon afterwards to pursue a career in entertainment. In the years to follow, he led the boy band 183 Club and also starred in many popular TV dramas. He returned to professional basketball in 2007 and permanently retired in 2010. He has played professionally in both Taiwan (Chinese Basketball Alliance) and mainland China (Chinese Basketball Association).
Basketball career
Yen was a high school star back in Private NanShan Senior High School and turned professional in 1995 with the Tera Mars (later Kaohsiung and BCC Mars) in the Chinese Basketball Alliance of Taiwan. As starting point guard, he led the league in assists for the 1997-1998 season and was then ranked among the best and brightest next-generation backcourt players in Taiwan. He was also selected to the Chinese Taipei senior basketball team from 1997 until 2003.
Around the start of the 21st century, however, Yen Hsing-su started to suffer from a succession of knee injuries. In his last appearance on the national team, Yen led the FIBA Asian Championship in assists, signifying his ability to continuously compete at Asia's highest level of basketball if free from injury. Yet, he decided to become a full-time entertainer after completing the first season (2003–2004) of the newly founded Super Basketball League (SBL). This was presumably due to the chronic knee problem and, arguably, the success of his new entertainment career following the airing of My MVP Valentine, a basketball-themed TV drama he starred in while healing the initial knee injury in 2002.
In 2007, Yen returned to basketball when he signed with Yunnan Bulls in the Chinese Basketball Association in mainland China to play in the 2007-2008 season. As a starter, he averaged 8.1 points and 5.2 assists (3rd in the league) in 22 games. After the season, he returned to Taiwan to play for Taiwan Beer in the SBL where he won his only club championship title. In the ensuing 2009-2010 season, Yen once again joined the Chinese professional league to play for the Shanghai Sharks.
Currently, Yen is an assistant coach in Brigham Young University–Hawaii, sports commentator at FOX Sports Taiwan.