Jón Sigurðsson (born 6 March 1951) is an Icelandic former
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 and the former captain of the
Icelandic national basketball team. He was named the
Icelandic Basketball Player of the Year
The Icelandic Basketball Player of the Year award was established in 1973 to recognize the best Icelandic basketball player of the year. The winners are basketball players who have Icelandic citizenship, and whose performances with its sports club ...
in 1976 and 1978 and won the
Icelandic championship in 1976, 1978 and 1979. In 2001, Jón was named as one of the twelve best
Icelandic men's basketball players of the 20th century.
Playing career
Jón started his playing career with
Ármann at the age of 16.
In 1971, Jón led the
Icelandic league in scoring, surpassing
Einar Bollason
Einar Gunnar Bollason (born 6 November 1943) is an Icelandic former basketball player, coach and TV analyst. As a player, he won the Icelandic championship six times with KR. In 2001, he was named to the Icelandic basketball team of the 20th ce ...
and
Þórir Magnússon by scoring 46 points in the last game of the season, despite having a fever.
In 1975, Jón led the league again in scoring with 306 total points, passing
Kolbeinn Pálsson
Kolbeinn Hermann Pálsson (born 26 November 1945) is an Icelandic former basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national team. In 1966 he became the first basketball player to be named the Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year. He ...
in the last game of the season. He helped the club win the 1975
Icelandic Basketball Cup and competed in the
1975–76 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup
The 1975–76 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup was the tenth edition of FIBA's 2nd-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, contested between national domestic cup champions, running from 29 October 1975, to 17 March 1976. ...
the next season.
In 1976 he helped Ármann break
ÍR and
KR twenty year monopoly in the national championship by beating KR 84–74 in the championship clinching game.
In September 1977, Jón left Ármann and signed with rivals
KR.
Icelandic national team
From 1968 to 1984, Jón played 120 games for the
Icelandic national team.
He was the first Icelandic player to play over 100 games for the national team.
Coaching career
Jón coached KR men's team from 1982 to 1986, leading them to the 1985
Icelandic Basketball Cup finals where they lost to Haukar, 73–71. On December 17, 1997, Jón was again hired as the head coach of KR, replacing
Hrannar Hólm who was fired after going 4–6 in the first 10 games. Under Jón, KR finished the regular season with ten victories in twelve games and advanced to the Úrvalsdeild finals where it lost to
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 ...
0–3. After the season, he was named the
Úrvalsdeild karla Coach of the Year.
Team of the 20th century
In 2001 Jón was voted to the
Icelandic team of the 20th century in basketball as a player.
Personal life
Jón's daughter is the
2001 Icelandic Women's Basketball Player of the Year and former
KR player
Kristín Björk Jónsdóttir.
Awards, titles and accomplishments
Individual awards
*
Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year (3):
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...
, 1976, 1979
*
Úrvalsdeild karla Coach of the Year: 1998
Titles
*
Úrvalsdeild karla (3): 1976, 1978, 1979
*
Icelandic Basketball Cup (4): 1975, 1976, 1979, 1984
Accomplishments
*
Icelandic Team of the 20th century
*
Úrvalsdeild scoring champion (2): 1971, 1975
References
External links
Jón Sigurðsson Úrvalsdeild stats (1978-1988)at kki.is
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigurdsson, Jon
1951 births
Living people
Jon Sigurdsson
Jon Sigurdsson
Jon Sigurdsson
Jon Sigurdsson
Jon Sigurdsson
Jon Sigurdsson
Jon Sigurdsson
Jon Sigurdsson
Jon Sigurdsson
Jon Sigurdsson
Point guards