Dubbed the "Michael Jordan of three-cushion billiards"[1] at the time of his arrival in the United States, Lee already had eight Korean national titles under his belt.

Lee promptly went on to dominate three cushion billiards in the US, winning a record twelve consecutive USBA National Three-Cushion Championship, from 1990 to 2001.

Lee became the UMB World Three-cushion Championship in 1993. in 1999 he was ranked number 11 among the Billiards Digest "50 Greatest Players of the Century" and ranked 5th "Greatest Living Player of the Century" At the 2002 USBA National Three-Cushion Championship, his impressive run came to an end when he was defeated by Pedro Piedrabuena in the finals.

The same year, Lee finished 2nd in Three-cushion event of the Asian Games where he was bested by Deuk-Hee Hwang, another Korean cue artist.

As a player, Lee's ambition was "making billiards beautiful in America",[2] – restoring the recognition and competitive level of three-cushion in that part of the world – but he did not live to fulfill it, as he died in 2004 due to stomach cancer.