College Kang played college basketball for
Korea University and was teammates with
Lee Jong-hyun. He was mostly a substitute player during his freshman year but established himself by his junior year, especially during the Professional-Amateur series, in which collegiate teams play against
KBL professional and reserve teams. He and Lee, dubbed the "Twin Towers" because of their height, led Korea University to a surprise win over a composed of experienced KBL players fulfilling their mandatory military service. During his senior year, Korea University were overshadowed by a dominant
Yonsei University team captained by
Choi Jun-yong in the collegiate league and competitions but Kang impressed enough to earn a call up to the national team.
Professional Kang, along with Lee and Choi, was considered one of the "big 3" of the 2016
KBL rookie draft. In the 2017–18 season, he averaged 9.63 points, 5.24 rebounds and 1.19 assists. In his 3rd season there, he averaged 11.62 points 5.64 rebounds and 1.39 assists. Kang enlisted for
mandatory military service in June 2020 and was assigned to the after completing basic training. His contract ended following the 2020-21 season and he became a free agent.
Wonju DB Promy signed him and veteran
Park Chan-hee in a trade-off with
Doo Kyung-min and announced that Kang would be added to the team roster immediately after his discharge. He was officially discharged on December 1, returning to the team for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. The next two seasons were largely forgetful as Kang struggled with inconsistent form and injuries. He was named captain by newly-appointed head coach
Kim Joo-sung for the upcoming 2023-24 season. During the regular season, he averaged 14 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists and played a vital role in DB qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season (excluding the 2019-20 during which the playoffs were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). He was named in the
KBL Best 5 for the first time in his career and finished runner-up in the voting for the
KBL Most Valuable Player Award, which ultimately went to his DB teammate
Ethan Alvano. However, he was unable to replicate his form during the playoffs. DB finished first in the regular season standings but were knocked by eventual Championship winners
Busan KCC Egis in the playoff semifinals. Kang became a free agent at the end of the 2023-24 season and re-signed with DB for another five-years. His new contract made him the highest-paid domestic player on the team. DB failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing seventh in the regular league. Kang posted his worst ever statistic in points per game, averaging only 8.1 points in 40 games. He set a
KBL record for the most number of rebounds in a single game by a player without scoring a single point, recording 22 rebounds during the win against
Seoul SK Knights in March. It is also the third highest number by a domestic player in a league game.
National team career Junior teams Kang participated in the
2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship, where he averaged 18.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1 assists He was called up to the national team several times while in the military to fill in for injured players. ==Personal life==