Remembering Ra's remarkable run with Korea

BEIRUT (Lebanon) - After another round of duty with Korea during Window 1 of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers, Ra GunA announced his retirement from the national team via Instagram.

 

"Tonight was my last game being a part of this great nation's national team."  

Most Appearances in FIBA competitions for Korea*

#	Player	Games Played	Points	PPG	Rebounds	RPG	EFF/G
1.	Ra GunA	27	610	22.6	314	11.6	27.4
2.	Lee SeoungHyun	23	165	7.2	110	4.8	10.0
3.	Kim JongKyu	19	157	8.3	58	3.1	8.3
4.	Kang Sangjae	18	87	4.8	47	2.6	6.7
5.	Choi JunYong	17	78	4.6	59	3.5	6.8
	Lee DaeSung	17	143	8.4	35	2.1	8.1
7.	Park Chan Hee	16	60	3.8	34	2.1	8.1
	Yang HongSeok	16	82	5.1	48	3.0	6.4
	Heo Hoon	16	106	6.6	9	0.6	5.8
	Lee JungHyun	16	198	12.4	46	2.9	13.6

*Since FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers

In his farewell performance, the 35-year-old was as solid as ever, with 14 points and 6 rebounds in a big victory over Thailand at home. This was coming off a big game of 21 points and 14 rebounds against Australia where Korea pushed the defending back-to-back Asia Cup champions to the final quarter. Throughout the window, Ra averaged a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds per game. 

Up until his very last game, it was business as usual for the 1.99M (6'6") center who first played for Korea nearly exactly 6 years ago on February 23, 2018 in the World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers against Hong Kong, China in Seoul.

That debut game stands as one of his fondest memories of playing for Korea.

 

"The first game, just hearing them call my name in the starting five and the waiting fans erupted," said Ra back in 2020, recalling his debut game.

"I was very proud and I just wanted to go out there and play for the fans," he said in the post-game Press Conference of his debut game. "We had a pretty good crowd tonight so I just tried to do what I do, rebound, run the floor, get my teammates involved, get good screens and make good passes and score when able."

"I feel very proud because being able to represent Korea is a big gift," he said in the next window of the World Cup Qualifiers after dropping 30 points against Jordan. "I have now incorporated Korean culture a lot more, and I feel that it is a great honor to represent Korea."

Ra was finally able to adopt his full Korean identity in the window after that against Lebanon on November 29, 2018, when he played with the name "Ra GunA" on the back of his jersey for the first time in a FIBA competition. He previously had "Ratliffe" on the back of the jersey from Ricardo Ratliffe, his given name.

"I would like to say thank you so much for making me the first foreign player to represent this great country on the international level. It’s so crazy to me that it has already been six years that I’ve been a member of this team."

Over that span, Ra has easily been one of the most impactful players for Korea. No other player has come close to scoring as many points or rebounds as Ra throughout FIBA competitions. He's also played the most amount of games for Korea in those competitions with 27 appearances, good for averages of 22.6 points and 11.6 rebounds per contest.

He's one of only seven players to have scored at least 40 points in a World Cup Qualifiers game (since the 2019 cycle) and the only one among those seven to have done so twice. His 43 points scored against Hong Kong on July 1, 2018 still stands as the most scored in a World Cup Qualifiers game.

At the World Cup in 2019, Ra led all players in scoring (23.0 points) and rebounds (12.8 rebounds) per game.

 

Moreover, he's been a key part of historic moments in Korea national team history, whether it was getting their first World Cup win against Cote d'Ivoire or recording their biggest win over China in the Asia Cup in 25 years.

 

"I just wanted to let it be known that I’m forever grateful for this opportunity. Korean Basketball Fighting."

"Ra Guna Out."

FIBA