Elvar Már Friðriksson (born 11 November 1994) is an Icelandic professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for PAOK Thessaloniki of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

and the

Basketball Champions League The Basketball Champions League (BCL) is an annual professional basketball competition for European clubs, organised by FIBA. It is the top-level competition organised by FIBA Europe, therefore the champion participates in the FIBA Intercont ...

. He is also a member of the Icelandic national basketball team. He has twice been named to the Icelandic Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First team as a member of

Njarðvík Njarðvík () is a town in southwestern Iceland, on the peninsula of Reykjanes. As of 2009, its population was 4,400. History In 1995 it merged with the town of Keflavík and the village of Hafnir to form the new municipality of Reykjanesbær. T ...

. In 2020, he won the Swedish championship with Borås Basket. In 2021, he was named the Lithuanian Basketball League MVP after leading the league in assists. He was named the Icelandic Male Basketball Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022.

Playing career

First seasons with Njarðvík

Elvar started his playing career with

in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla in 2011, averaging 11.5 points and 4.6 assists during the regular season. He upped his averages to 19.1 points and 4.7 assist the following season and to 21.5 points and 7.2 assists in 2013–2014, being named to the Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First team both times.

Long Island University

Following his strong performance, Elvar agreed to join Long Island University where he played alongside Martin Hermannsson with the LIU Sharks basketball team.

Barry University

The following season, Elvar transferred to

Barry University Barry University is a private Catholic university in Miami Shores, Florida. Founded in 1940 by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, it is one of the largest Catholic universities in the Southeast and is within the territory of the Archdiocese of Mia ...

where he played until 2018. In March 2018, he was selected as the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive year after averaging 20.0 points and 7.3 assists per game.

Denain Voltaire

In June 2018, Elvar Már joined Denain Voltaire of the

LNB Pro B The LNB Pro B, commonly known as Pro B, is the 2nd-tier level men's professional basketball league in France. It is the second division of the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB), which has organized the league since the year 1987. The regular season ...

. On 5 November 2018, it was reported that Denain Voltaire planned to release him to make room on the roster for another signing.

Back to Njarðvík

After being released by Denain during a roster overhaul, Elvar signed with

on 15 November 2018. On 13 December 2018, Elvar posted a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in a victory against Breiðablik with 40 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. During the regular season, he averaged 23.1 points and 5.3 assists per game. In the playoffs, the second seeded Njarðvík was unexpectedly knocked out in the first round by ÍR.

Borås Basket

In June 2019, Elvar signed with Borås Basket of the Swedish Basketligan. In March 2020, he won the Swedish championship after the

Swedish Basketball Federation The Swedish Basketball Federation ( sv, Svenska Basketbollförbundet) also known as SBBF is the governing body of basketball in Sweden. It was established on 25 October 1952 out of the Swedish Handball Federation's basketball section, which had b ...

decided to cancel the rest of the 2019–20 season due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country and award Borås the title as the top team at the time of the cancelation. After the season he was named the Basketligan Guard of the Year.

BC Šiauliai

On 26 July 2020, Elvar signed with BC Šiauliai of the LKL. He was named the Player of the Month for the games played in November 2020 after averaging 18.5 points and 9.5 assists per game. On 21 April 2021, he had 33 points and 11 assists, while shooting a perfect 9-of-9 from the field and 10-of-10 from the

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

line, in a 103–90 victory against BC Pieno žvaigždės. On 7 May, he had 15 points and a season high 17 assists in a double overtime loss against BC Neptūnas. Following the regular season, where he led the league in assists, he was named the Lithuanian Basketball League MVP.

Antwerp Giants

On 21 July 2021, Elvar signed with

Antwerp Giants Antwerp Giants, named Telenet Giants Antwerp for sponsorship reasons, are a Belgians, Belgian professional basketball club based in Antwerp. Their home arena is Lotto Arena. The club plays in the BNXT League, the highest tier of Belgian basketbal ...

of the Belgian-Dutch BNXT League. On 16 December 2021, it was announced that he had been named the Icelandic Male Basketball Player of the Year. In February 2021, Antwerp refused an offer from

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

for Elvar.

Derthona Basket

On 3 April 2022, Elvar joined Derthona Basket.

Rytas Vilnius

On 11 August 2022, Elvar signed with Rytas Vilnius. In December 2022, he was named the Icelandic Male Basketball Player of the Year for the second straight year. He helped the team to the LKL finals where they lost to

BC Žalgiris Basketball Club Žalgiris ( lt, Krepšinio klubas Žalgiris) is a professional basketball team that is based in Kaunas, Lithuania, and competes domestically in the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL, Lithuanian Basketball League). Founded in 1944, i ...

PAOK Thessaloniki

On 10 July 2023, Elvar signed with PAOK of the

and the

. On October 2023 he became only the third player to achieve a triple double in the history of the

. He did so in a game against

in the first game of the group stages when he had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He also became the first and so far only player in competition's history to achieve this feature in an away match.

National team career

Elvar played 21 games with Iceland's junior national teams from 2010 to 2013. His first game with the senior national team was in 2013 and he was a member of Iceland's team in

Eurobasket 2015 EuroBasket 2015 was the 39th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It was co-hosted by Croatia, France, Germany, and Latvia, making it the first EuroBasket held in more than one country. It started on 5 S ...

and

Eurobasket 2017 EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar ...

. Elvar was a member Iceland's team in then

Games of the Small States of Europe The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) is a biennial multi-sport event, launched by the Republic of San Marino, organized by and featuring the National Olympic Committees of nine European small states since 1985. The Games are held at t ...

in 2013 and 2015. On 20 February 2021, he scored a game winning three pointer with 0.7 seconds left in a 86–84 victory against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

in the final game of the first round of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifiers. On 13 August 2021, Elvar scored a game high 30 points in a 91–70 victory against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Pre-Qualifiers.

Personal life

Elvar is the son of former Icelandic national team player Friðrik Ragnarsson and brother of former Úrvalsdeild point guard Ragnar Helgi Friðriksson.Besta byrjunarlið Njarðvíkinga
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References

External links