Tom Hur flew from Seoul to Detroit this spring for the first round of the playoffs, paid about $2,500 for the ticket and spent part of his trip being honored with a jersey at a Tigers game. The 33-year-old bank worker, who lives on a 10-6 schedule in South Korea, has become a familiar face to Pistons fans under the nickname “Korean Tom” and his Instagram handle, koreapistonsfan.
Hur said he is not a celebrity, just a regular person who loves Detroit enough to keep coming back. “I don't take anything for granted,” he said, adding that the response from fans has been overwhelming: “They're loving me back, and it's an amazing feeling.” This visit was his second trip to Detroit after first going in 2023, and he said he planned to stay about a week.
His connection to the Pistons started long before social media. Hur said his childhood obsession in Seoul began after a friend made him play as Detroit in NBA Live, and his support was sealed in 2010 when the team signed Tracy McGrady. He first visited the city with a friend in 2023, then returned last year and began documenting the stay on Instagram, turning restaurant stops and sightseeing into the kind of posts that drew a following. He quickly built attention by sharing clips and photos from places such as Sweetwater Tavern and the Detroit River.
That online attention followed him back into the arena and around the city. Fans have embraced him enough that he says he stops to take pictures with anyone who asks, a level of recognition that still seems to surprise him. During the trip, he also met Cade Cunningham, another marker of how far a fan from Seoul has been pulled into Detroit’s orbit.
The appeal is part geography and part persistence. Hur’s posts often mix enthusiasm and simple declarations of loyalty, including “Whatupdoe!” and “The Best Wings in Detroit!!!” But the bigger story is how a man with a bank job in Seoul found a second home in a city on the other side of the world, then kept showing up until the city started showing up for him.