Erman Kunter (born 8 October 1956) is a Turkish-French former 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 ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He most recently served as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

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 ...

, of the

Turkish Basketball Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

(BSL). He is well-known for being the player that scored the most points ever in a single-game of any top-tier level professional basketball league in the world, with 153 points scored in a

Turkish Super League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

game in 1988.

Professional playing career

During his pro

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

career, Kunter played with İTÜ,

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

Eczacıbaşı Eczacıbaşı Holding is a Turkish industrial group of companies founded in 1942. The group with 44 companies has 11,400 employees and a combined net turnover of TL 11.1 billion in 2020. Group Eczacıbaşı's core sectors are building products, ...

, Yenişehir Meysu, Fenerbahçe, and Çukurova Sanayi. As a Fenerbahçe player, he scored 153 points (81 points in the first half), of his team's 175 total points, in a

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

game against Hilalspor, on 12 March, 1988. It is still a record in Turkey, and the highest single-game scoring record ever in any top-tier level professional league in the world. During the game, he made 17

three-pointers A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a Field goal (basketball), field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, i ...

National team career

Kunter played in 213

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

with the senior Turkish national team, and scored a total of 3,699 points (17.4 points per game). With Turkey, he played at

EuroBasket 1981 The 1981 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1981, was the 22nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Czechoslovakia and took place from 26 May to 5 June 198 ...

Coaching career

Kunter was the

of Darüşşafaka,

, the senior Turkish national team, and Galatasaray Istanbul in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

; and

Cholet Basket Cholet Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Cholet, France. The club plays in the French League. Their home arena is La Meilleraie. Established in 1975, Cholet won its first French championship in the 2009–10 season. In 19 ...

Asvel Villeurbanne ASVEL Basket, commonly known as ASVEL or sometimes as ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, and also known as LDLC ASVEL for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional basketball team that is located in the city of Villeurbanne, which is a suburb of Lyon ...

, and

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 2010, he led

to win the French League championship. In June 2012, he signed with

, to be their new head coach. After that, he returned to France, to be the head coach of

, in 2014. He became the head coach of

in 2017. He was also hired to be the head coach of the senior

Iraqi national basketball team The Iraq national basketball team ( ar, منتخب العراق لكرة السلة) represents Iraq in international basketball competitions. It is one out of only two Arab nations to ever qualify for the Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sum ...

, in 2017. In September 2022, he was hired as a head coach for

Tunisia national basketball team The Tunisian national basketball team ( ar, منتخب تونس لكرة السلة), nicknamed ''Les Aigles de Carthage (The Eagles of Carthage or The Carthage Eagles)'', is the national basketball team of Tunisia. The team is governed by the Tu ...

Personal life

Kunter is married to Sofia Ayten Kunter Hanımefendi, the daughter of Osman Nami Osmanoğlu, and great-granddaughter of Ottoman sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

. They have one daughter, named Roksan. She acquired French citizenship in September 2010,Erman Kunter is the new Galatasaray coach.
/ref> and since then, he retains two dual citizenship (French and Turkish).

References

External links