Bærum Basket, also known as Bærum Basket Bekkestua, is a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team based in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, currently participating in the

BLNO Basketligaen Norge, better known as BLNO is Norway's premier professional men's basketball league. It was established in 2000. The competition is organised by the Norwegian Basketball Federation (NBBF). Clubs Former clubs Finals Awards Most ...

, Norway's premier basketball league. It is owned by Knut Ola Staver. The club was founded in the year of 1963 as Bærum Basketball Club, commonly referred to as simply Bærum BBK. Bærum is historically known to be one of the most successful teams in the

, tied with Asker Aliens B.C. for the most league championships. Bærum Basket has won 4 BLNO league championships and 1 Norwegian Cup dating back to the creation of the

league. Some of the most prominent players that have been with Bærum Basket in recent years include: Stian Mjos, Keith Thompson, and Donald Oatis. These players have all been playing under the coaching of Pal Berg.

History

Establishment

In the spring of 1963, Jan Petter Hansen— a physical education teacher at Valler Upper Secondary School— initiated the first official basketball club in the entire country of Norway, with the help of the

Norwegian Confederation of Sports The Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports ( no, Norges idrettsforbund og olympiske og paralympiske komité; NIF) is the umbrella organization for sport in Norway. It is the largest volunteering organization in No ...

(NIF). Known as the Bærum Basketball Club, or the Bærum BBK, the club first consisted of eleven players.

Rise of Bærum BBK (1964–1978)

Bærum BBK earned its first prize in the spring of 1964, the "Fair Play Trophy", an inspiration that would start a whole new era in the entire club's history. Interest in the sport rapidly increased in the

Eikeli Eikeli is a district in the municipality of Bærum, Norway. Its population (2007) is 6,940.Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

, giving the team more and more space for young talent on their roster due to the high recruitment rate. This was also the period of time in which the club was seeing an increase in the number of Americans on the court, helping them win their first ever tournament, in this case the 1966 Coca-Cola Cup. The Coca-Cola Cup was an opening tournament that took place in the fall. Bærum BBK's first league championship came in mid-1968, a period that is widely considered to be the club's first and greatest triumph. Toppling their chief rivals,

OSI OSI may refer to: Places * Osijek Airport (IATA code: OSI), an airport in Croatia * Ősi, a village in Veszprém county, Hungary * Oši, an archaeological site in Semigallia, Latvia * Osi, a village in Ido-Osi, Ekiti State, Nigeria * Osi, Ekiti ...

, with a score of 59-58, ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million ...

'', Norway's largest newspaper, described the game as "the best basketball played in Norway."

Players

Current roster

Depth chart

References

External links

Eurobasket.com Baerum Page
Basketball teams in Norway Sport in Bærum {{Norway-sport-team-stub