Hanno Aleksanteri Möttölä (born 9 September 1976) is a Finnish former 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. Möttölä played for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA), at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

position, where he became the first player from

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

to play in the NBA.

College career

Möttölä attended the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, in the United States, where he played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

under head coach

Rick Majerus Richard Raymond Majerus (February 17, 1948 – December 1, 2012) was an American basketball coach and TV analyst. He coached at Marquette University (1983–1986), Ball State University (1987–1989), the University of Utah (1989–2004), and ...

. He was a starter on the

Utah Utes The Utah Utes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City. The athletic department is named after the Ute tribe of Native Americans. The men's basketball team is known as the Runnin' ...

team that played in the final of the 1998 NCAA national championship tournament, which they lost to

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Professional career

After college, Möttölä was selected in the second round, with the 40th overall pick, in the 2000 NBA draft, by the

. He played two seasons in the NBA with the Hawks. He played in all 82 games during his sophomore (and final) season. His final NBA game was on April 17th, 2002 in a 81 - 89 loss to the Boston Celtics where he recorded 1 steal and 2 rebounds. After his time with the Hawks, he returned to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. He played in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, with TAU Cerámica of the ACB, then in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, with Skipper Bologna (in the 2003–04 season, his team reached the Italian League finals and

EuroLeague Final The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe. Title holders * ......1958 Rīgas ASK * 195 ...

). He also played in Italy with

Scavolini Pesaro Victoria Libertas (also known as "VL" or in Italian ''Vuelle''), full name Unione Sportiva Victoria Libertas Pallacanestro, is a professional basketball team that is based in Pesaro, Italy. The club competes in the top level Italian professiona ...

(from 2004 to 2005). Möttölä also played in the

Russian Super League Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and pe ...

with

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

, in the Lithuanian LKL League with Žalgiris Kaunas, and in 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 ...

(GBL) with

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

, after signing with the team on 26 July 2007. Möttölä announced his retirement from playing basketball on 26 September 2008, but decided to return to basketball just nine months later. In September 2009, Möttölä signed with the Finnish team

Torpan Pojat Torpan Pojat, shortened to ToPo, is a basketball club based in Helsinki, Finland. Torpan Pojat has their men's and women's team playing in national 1st division and many minor and junior teams in different age categories. History The club was ...

. He played in the team for four seasons, during which the team was the runner-up in the Finnish League championship (2009–10), in the

Finnish Cup The Finnish Cup ( fi, Suomen cup; sv, Finlands cup) is Finland's main national cup competition in football. This yearly competition is open for all member clubs of the FA of Finland and has been played since 1955. The winner qualifies for the ...

(2010–11), and finished in third-place in Finnish League (2011–12).

National team career

Möttölä was a long-time member of the senior

Finnish national basketball team The Finland men's national basketball team ( fi, Suomen koripallomaajoukkue, sv, Finlands herrlandslag i basket) represents Finland in international basketball competition. The national team is governed by Basketball Finland. Finland has playe ...

. With Finland, he played at the

1995 EuroBasket The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to ea ...

, the

2011 EuroBasket EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 cha ...

, the 2013 EuroBasket, and the

2014 FIBA World Cup The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it was the last tournament to be held on the then-current four-year cycle ...

Personal life

Finnish

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

players,

Jarkko Ruutu Jarkko is a given name. Notable people with the given name include: * Jarkko Ahola (born 1977), Finnish performing artist, composer and singer * Jarkko Ala-Huikku (born 1980), Finnish Greco-Roman wrestler * Jarkko Hattunen (born 1987), Finnish ice ...

and

Tuomo Ruutu Tuomo Iisakki Ruutu (born 16 February 1983) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey forward and current assistant coach with the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. Ruutu was drafted in the first round, ninth overall, at the 2 ...

, are Möttölä's second cousins.Tuomo Ruutu; ihanfinaalissa.fi

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2000-01 , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, 72 , , 3 , , 13.5 , , .444 , , .000 , , .811 , , 2.4 , , .3 , , .2 , , .1 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2001-02 , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 14 , , 16.7 , , .440 , , .077 , , .750 , , 3.3 , , .6 , , .2 , , .2 , , 4.8 , - class="sortbottom" , colspan=2 style="text-align:center;", Career , 154 , , 17 , , 15.2 , , .442 , , .063 , , .783 , , 2.9 , , .5 , , .2 , , .2 , , 4.6

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", TAU Cerámica , 7 , , 3 , , 30.4 , , .569 , , .444 , , .774 , , 3.4 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , .3 , , 15.1 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;", Skipper Bologna , 22 , , 16 , , 21.8 , , .520 , , .348 , , .879 , , 3.8 , , .4 , , .8 , , .4 , , 10.8 , , 9.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004–05 , style="text-align:left;",

, 22 , , 16 , , 28.6 , , .497 , , .375 , , .833 , , 5.1 , , .9 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 13.7 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , style="text-align:left;", Žalgiris , 12 , , 5 , , 22.6 , , .547 , , .500 , , .806 , , 3.9 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .5 , , 10.9 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007–08 , style="text-align:left;",

, 20 , , 16 , , 19.7 , , .488 , , .459 , , .824 , , 2.8 , , .7 , , .4 , , .1 , , 8.0 , , 6.0 , - class="sortbottom" , colspan=2 style="text-align:center;", Career , 83 , , 56 , , 23.9 , , .516 , , .406 , , .833 , , 3.9 , , .8 , , .7 , , .3 , , 11.3 , , 9.7

References

External links

FIBA ProfileEuroleague ProfileFinnish League Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mottola, Hanno 1976 births Living people Aris B.C. players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Atlanta Hawks players BC Dynamo Moscow players BC Žalgiris players Finnish expatriate basketball people in Greece Finnish expatriate basketball people in Italy Finnish expatriate basketball people in Lithuania Finnish expatriate basketball people in Russia Finnish expatriate basketball people in Spain Finnish expatriate basketball people in the United States Finnish men's basketball players Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna players Greek Basket League players Liga ACB players Power forwards (basketball) Saski Baskonia players Sportspeople from Helsinki Torpan Pojat players Utah Utes men's basketball players Victoria Libertas Pesaro players 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players