Brynjar Þór Björnsson
Icelandic former basketball player
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Brynjar Þór Björnsson (born 11 July 1988) is an Icelandic basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national team.[1] He has won the Icelandic championship eight times and the Icelandic Basketball Cup three times with KR[2][3] and is the club's all-time leader in scoring and games played.[4][5]
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 11 July 1988 Reykjavík, Iceland | |||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||
| Career information | ||||||||||||||||||
| College | Francis Marion (2008–2009) | |||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2004–2022 | |||||||||||||||||
| Position | Guard | |||||||||||||||||
| Career history | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2004-2011 | KR | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Jämtland Basket | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2018 | KR | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Tindastóll | |||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2022 | KR | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022–present | KR-b | |||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Playing career
Early career
In the fifth and deciding game of the 2007 Úrvalsdeild Finals against Snæfell, Brynjar made a three-point shot with 3 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 68–68 and send it to overtime. KR prevailed in overtime, winning the game 76–74 and its tenth national championship.[6]
College
Brynjar played for Francis Marion University from 2008 to 2009. He left the school in January 2009.[7]
Sweden
In 2011, Brynjar joined Jämtland Basket of the Swedish Basketligan and for the season he averaged 10.4 points per game and made 40.8 percent of his three point shots.[8]
Return to KR
He rejoined KR in 2012 and helped the club win the national championship four times in a row, from 2014 to 2017.[3] He resigned with KR in 2017 after contemplating a move to Þór Akureyri.[9]
On 10 November 2017 Brynjar became KR's all-time leading scorer in the Úrvalsdeild, surpassing Guðni Ólafur Guðnason who scored 3144 points for KR.[10] On 12 March 2018 Brynjar broke a finger on practice and was expected to miss KR's first round playoff series against Njarðvík.[11]
On 25 April 2018 Brynjar scored a buzzer beater to give KR a 75–77 victory against Tindastóll and a 2–1 lead in the Úrvalsdeild finals series.[12] On 28 April he won his eight Icelandic championship after KR defeated Tindastóll in the fourth game of the series.[13][14]
Tindastóll
On 8 June 2018 Brynjar left KR and signed with rivals Tindastóll.[15][16] On 30 September, he won the Icelandic Super Cup after Tindastóll beat KR, 103–72.[17] On 9 December Brynjar set the Úrvalsdeild record for most three-pointers made in a game when he made 16 of 31 three-point shots, on his way to 48 points, in a victory against Breiðablik, breaking Frank Booker's 27-year-old record.[18][19] In April 2019, Tindastóll agreed to release him from his contract following the team's first round exit in the Úrvalsdeild playoffs.[20]
Third stint with KR
On 29 June 2019, Brynjar returned to KR.[21] On 5 March 2020 he announced he would not play in KR's upcoming game against Stjarnan due to the coronavirus pandemic in Iceland[22] without consulting the team first.[23] Shortly later, on 13 March 2020 with each team having one game left, the season was postponed,[24] and later canceled due to the pandemic.[25]
In August 2022, Brynjar announced his retirement from top-tier basketball.[26]
Icelandic national team
From 2007 to 2017, Brynjar played 68 games for the Icelandic national team.[27] He retired from the national team in February 2018.[1][28]
Awards and accomplishments
Club honours
- Icelandic Champion (8): 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
- Icelandic Basketball Cup (3): 2011, 2016, 2017
- Icelandic Super Cup (3): 2007, 2014, 2015, 2018
- Icelandic Company Cup (2): 2008, 2014
Individual awards
- Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First team (2): 2010, 2011
- Úrvalsdeild Playoffs MVP : 2016
- Úrvalsdeild Young Player of the Year: 2005
Personal life
Brynjar is the son of Björn M. Björgvinsson, the former chairman of the Icelandic Basketball Association.[29]
